Safety should always come first, especially at a home or a place of business where people spend a great deal of time. There are a lot of additions that can make a building safer, but awnings are often overlooked. That is a serious error, since they can offer a lot when it comes to safety. They are especially useful because they offer some added protection from threats that people often ignore when they are planning their buildings. They are easy to add to an existing structure, so everyone should consider using one for a little added protection.
Controlling Heat
Heat can be one of the most dangerous parts of the environment. Several hundred people die from heat stroke every year, and one of the best ways to prevent it from becoming a problem is to make sure that there are plenty of opportunities to get out of the sun and cool down. Animals are just as prone to suffering from heat stroke as humans, and often find themselves getting left in the heat while people shop, so businesses in particular can make themselves look very friendly by providing shade for the furry friends that their customers bring with them.
Awnings provide protection from heat stroke because they can offer a large amount of shade near the building without taking up too much space. In addition to providing protection from getting heat stroke in the first place, that shade will make it easier to treat the problem when it does happen. The best way to deal with cases of heat stroke is to help the person cool down, and getting them out of the sun is usually the first step in that process. Installing an awning usually makes it much easier to get the patient into a protected area while waiting for help.
Blocking Debris
High winds can also be dangerous. The wind itself is rarely going to cause any harm to a human, but it can easily carry debris that can cause serious injuries. Gravity can also cause similar problems, since falling objects often pick up enough velocity to hurt or even kill a person who happens to be underneath them as they fall. High winds are often the root cause of that problem, since they can tear old, dead branches off of trees, which then fall down and hurt innocent bystanders in the area.
Awnings are fairly resilient, so they can provide some extra protection against debris that comes from above. Combining one with a little bit of fencing or elevation can provide even more protection. It is important to get a wind-resistant model if you want to prioritize this benefit, to be sure that the awning itself can hold up to the worst that nature can throw at it. Larger awnings will also offer more protection, since they will block debris coming from a wider area. Even the biggest will still have some vulnerabilities, but they do provide a fairly large amount of protection at a low cost.
Avoiding Slips
Falling is incredibly dangerous, especially for people who are getting older. Most people who suffer from a serious fall do it because they slipped, often on water. That means that wet ground can be a serious health hazard, and it will cause problems for businesses and other buildings that get a lot of foot traffic. It is generally a bigger concern in rainy climates than in dry ones, but everywhere will get some rain during the year, so nobody can completely ignore the threat that the rain can pose to pedestrians around their building.
The awning helps to deal with that problem by keeping rain off of the ground below. Some may flow into that area from the surrounding ground if it is on a slope, but it will reduce the amount of water that accumulates, especially during short bursts of rain. That makes the ground much less slippery, which reduces the odds of people falling and hurting themselves. It also has the side effect of giving people somewhere dry to wait if they need to get a taxi or load a vehicle, which can make the whole area much more pleasant during inclement weather.
