Hochiki Europe EMERGENCY LIGHTS

Whilst the situation regarding the Coronavirus outbreak in Europe and the UK is developing and changing quickly, Hochiki Europe would like to assure all their partners that the business has been continually reviewing and monitoring the UK Government’s advice. To date, the company has implemented the following actions to reduce the virus spread: Encouraging staff to work from home, where practicable Travel ban in place for overseas business travel Staff rotation in place to promote social distancing yet fully maintain our customer service levels Additional cleaning of doors, handles and frequently touched surfaces by the cleaning staff Placement of additional antibacterial hand sanitizer around our head office and R&D center as well as detailed instructions on effective handwashing in all staff restrooms Advice given to all staff on when and how to self-isolate and what to do if becoming unwell discourage unnecessary social contact To further discourage unnecessary social contact, the company has postponed their product training program, until further notice. Wherever possible conferencing technology is being used to ensure that meetings, both in the UK as well as across Europe, can take place. There is a business continuity plan in place and they do not plan any closures at this point. Hochiki Europe’s technical support team and customer services teams remain available to take the customer’s enquiry and their factory and warehouse continues to be fully operational. They have a global supply chain and will endeavor to ensure suitable stock levels remain in place. If a customer has any concerns, at any time, they have been requested to liaise with their customer services or sales contact who will be able to support them further. practice good hygiene Hochiki urges everyone to join their staff in practicing good hygiene while on site Hochiki asks that if anyone is planning to visit either Hochiki Head Office (Gillingham) or their R&D Centre (Rochester), that they confirm in advance that they have not travelled to any high-risk countries, nor been in contact with anyone with a confirmed case of COVID-19. Hochiki urges everyone to join their staff in practicing good hygiene while on site and during this period refrain from handshaking. Where they feel it might be more suitable, the company is always happy to meet them via conference or video call. They assure their customers that they will continue to keep everyone updated as and when they receive further information from the Government. Update from Customer Services Team: Due to the current COVID-19 Pandemic, and to encourage the Government’s guidelines on social distancing, please note that Hochiki Europe will not be accepting customer collect orders from the Gillingham site. Instead, the customer will be contacted and offered a next day pre 12pm delivery, at the company’s cost. Hochiki will also waiver the £50 minimum order value for customers who usually collect.

Hochiki Europe, a renowned manufacturer of life safety solutions, has partnered with the FIA (Fire Industry Association) to host a roundtable discussing best practice when it comes to life safety in Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). Panelists were made up of professionals involved throughout the life safety procurement chain, including representatives from the manufacturing, facilities management, consultancy/specification and installation sectors, as well as the FIA itself. selecting emergency lighting Participants comprised: Ian Watts, Emergency Lighting Manager, Hochiki Europe; Richard Wharram, Regional Sales Manager, Hochiki Europe; Will Lloyd, Technical Manager, FIA David Thewlis, Director, Rosse Systems and Neil Wright, an independent electrical engineer. The event followed the release of Hochiki Europe’s most recent whitepaper outlining several grey areas regarding different systems being installed in HMOs. The general consensus around the table was that education and upskilling engineers is paramount" During the session, held at the FIA’s training center in Hampton, London, panelists debated having exclusive Part 1 or Part 6 systems within HMOs, or the benefits of having mixed systems in place. The discussion also focused on perceived confusion around the definition of an ‘HMO’, as well as specific challenges for duty holders and best practice when selecting emergency lighting in these types of buildings.  many different requirements Paul Adams, Marketing Manager, Hochiki Europe, chaired the panel. He commented: “This was a necessary and worthwhile discussion which brought up some urgent issues for all parties that must be addressed if we are to protect people living in HMOs." "The general consensus around the table was that education and upskilling engineers is paramount. The life safety sector has so many different requirements for different buildings, depending on their intended purpose but it has become clear that there is a severe lack of clarity within the industry over best practice. The guidance and support is out there, we just need to show people where to get it and why it is so vitally important.”

Kentec Electronics Ltd, a manufacturer of life-critical control systems, has completed EN54-13 approvals for the Taktis product line, Kentec’s most powerful and sophisticated analog addressable fire panel. The approvals were completed the LPCB (Loss Prevention Certification Board). Kevin Swann, Managing Director of Kentec says: “To those working within the fire sector, all will be familiar with the requirement for fire protection products and the need for them to be EN54 certified to the relevant standard." "Almost all the standards in this series are related to individual product types and define the requirements and related tests for each component of the fire detection and alarm systems (FDAS). EN54-13 is a rigorous complete system test procedure that proves the compatibility of all the different individual components and that they work together as a system.” approved certification body EN54-13 (Compatibility and connectability assessment of system components) was first published in 2005. In most European countries it is an essential requirement for FDAS. It is also a British Standard and is referenced in BS5839 part 1. End users and specifiers are often demanding systems that are ‘open protocol’. EN54-13 ensures that full compatibility of the entire system and panel network is achieved This means the manufacturer of the panel may be different from the devices, and importantly where the specifier can utilize the best technology from the market whilst not having to compromise on certain elements of the choice of devices because of a closed nature of the system and the limitations associated with a single source manufacturer. EN54-13 overcomes this compromise and ensures that full compatibility of the entire system and panel network is achieved and is certified by an approved certification body such as LPCB. fire detection and alarm system It ensures that the fire detection and alarm system components are compatible and communicate with each other at the most critical stages of a fire alarm operation and where different component manufacturers (i.e panels , detectors, beam detectors, call points, sounders, etc.) test their equipment as a system and not as individual items. It proves the system works in a fire and fault condition according to the manufacturer’s specification and component EN54 standards and most importantly ensures that the system is more resilient to critical fault conditions (i.e. panel failure, network failure and cable failures) and the reliability of the entire system can be proven. innovation and compliance EN54-13 goes beyond any individual standard and the requirements for cable fault condition monitoring and reporting are demanding, but enable the user and maintainer an opportunity to identify potential problems before they occur – Taktis provides full compliance with this. Kevin Swann goes on to say: “By Kentec obtaining EN54-13 on both Hochiki and Apollo protocols further demonstrates our commitment to innovation and compliance with the most demanding of standards and giving our customers peace of mind that they will always be protected, even in the most demanding situations and when you need them most, we are all very happy that we have now achieved this approval for our world-class Taktis fire panel.”