If you are running a gym, ensuring the safety of those who train in your facility is one of your principal concerns. Any injury from the use of electrical equipment in your facility can have dire consequences for your business.
So how can you manage this part of your business with confidence and peace of mind? A regular test and tag service by a professional provider is the best solution, and RKH Test & Tag is one such provider.
Our test and tag services offered to Melbourne businesses can ensure that your equipment satisfies the guidelines set by the Australian Standard safety code AS/NZS3670.
Risks of Not Maintaining Your Electrical Gym Equipment
A regular test and tag service on your electrical equipment can prevent common safety risks, including:
- Fire – Fire can ensue from circuitry overheating, accumulation of dust inside the machine’s hood, or electrical short in the motor.
- Electric shock – Malfunctioning of the electric control unit and overheating can cause electric shock and even death.
- Unexpected speed acceleration/deceleration – Overheating of the wiring and programming defect can affect the speed of operation and lead to the user losing his balance, fall, or injury.
Malfunctioning of the electric control unit is one of the highest instances of fitness machine failure. The Ohio Court of Appeals heard one such case.
The plaintiff had been walking on a treadmill for about one minute when suddenly the speed increased. She tried to hit the stop button several times to no avail. After another three minutes, she lost her footing, fell off the machine, and broke her shoulder.
You do not want anything like this to happen in your business, and you want everyone to be always safe. Make sure that you perform regular tests on your machines.
Helpful Tips – How to Keep Your Electrical Gym Equipment Safe
To keep your electrical machines safe, perform regular electrical preventive maintenance, which is the practice of conducting inspections and tests so that impending issues are detected early and eliminated.
Follow these additional tips:
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Plug machines into a grounded outlet – Electrical fitness machines are vulnerable to damage due to electrical surges. That is because of the amount of power they draw. Connect them to a dedicated circuit, a grounded outlet, or a surge protector.
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Avoid messing up electrical components inside – While these machines need cleaning once a year, make sure to unplug them first before cleaning their interior with a vacuum.
In cleaning and in all activities that you will do involving these machines, make sure that the electrical components remain in their position by not accidentally dislodging them from their original placement.
- Keep surfaces dry – Do not soak the machines’ surfaces with any liquid. Use a damp cloth or a sprayer when cleaning surfaces, and keep all electrical components (motor, power switch, power cord, etc.) away from water.
- Check for signs of damage or wear – Be always on the lookout for splits, cracks, and chips. For cables and wires, check for tears or fraying. Clamps and clips should be in their proper places and are working correctly. Call a technician immediately when your elliptical machines and treadmills make noises.
- Unplug the machines when not in use – Again, it is about power surges, which can cause grave damage. Unplug them when not in use for your peace of mind. Also, when they are on, the lights can keep on drawing power and possibly cause overheating on the circuit board.
Hire Experts
You might be tempted to tap on your available in-house staff to do the test and tag procedure on your machines, but remember that they need expert training before any of them can do it properly. Also, with the existing workload of your staff, do you think they can efficiently do the task and work on it regularly?
Understandably, you are trying not to put additional burden on your budget, but doing it the cheap way might mean a disaster in the long run, leading to more expense.
Professional and experienced tag and test services ensure that your machines are reliable, efficient, and will last long. Professionals who do these tasks day in and day out with other gyms are far more efficient and work faster. If your fitness machines are fixed and maintained by professionals, they will serve you longer and better.
Also, they will keep all your data in a secure database so that when you lose your report, they can pull out a copy and send it to you via email. You can get your copy on your desktop within minutes after calling them about your problem.
Get in touch with experts to make sure your machines are fully protected and you are fully compliant with OH&S policies. RKH Test & Tag has been in business for over eight years now, servicing local businesses in Melbourne SE Suburbs.
We can help reduce the risk of serious injury to your customers and staff and help you avoid heavy fines from OH&S infringements.