After you’ve had a brand-new roller shutter installed, the next thing to remember is to organise regular services. The last thing you want is for a door to break at the start, or end, of business hours. Missing out on valuable business hours, plus having to call an out of hours engineer can end up costing you a pretty penny.

Yet we see it happen all too often. With businesses having a growing list of important things to allocate in the budget, regular door maintenance can often be overlooked.

Across the UK there has been an increase in accidents reported involving powered roller shutters and doors. This, coinciding with the growing number of prosecutions for not complying with legislation into workplace maintenance, means a health and safety nightmare is developing.

Smaller businesses sometimes suffer under the illusion that it is only the larger factories that require regular service checks to their shutter systems. In actual fact, it is compulsory to ensure that roller shutter and doors comply with current regulations in all businesses across the UK.

To comply, roller shutters must be inspected at least once a year. It is recommended that for the most effective breakdown prevention, inspections should take place on a 6-month basis.

As well as regular services from a professional, staff and owners also have responsibilities to ensure that workplace equipment is maintained in an efficient state and in good working order.

To satisfy the regulations it is good practice to follow these guidelines. If you can confidently confirm that you demonstrate the following you are on the right path:

• Regular maintenance is carried out at suitable intervals
• Potentially dangerous defects are remedied in a timely fashion
• Records are kept to document the above

Keeping a log book will mean you keep clear reference to maintenance and repair visits, details of the work done, details of significant changes and upgrades as well as the name, date and signature of the responsible person in each instance.

After installing your new roller shutters, Manchester based company Sheridan Doors provide ongoing service, as well as 24/7 emergency breakdown repair.