At TMP, the company ethos is “making good ideas work” and that means finding new ways to use existing products, developing new products that offer safety and value for money, and helping clients to find innovative solutions to their problems.
TMP discussed various solutions with the client, determining exactly the concerns and requirements. The client specified that the solution had to be simple, quick and cost effective to install, provide clarity to the signage, fit with the car park environment and to be passively safe. This challenge was given to the TMP product development team, with the added request for a solution to be provided within a very short timescale.
The starting point for the design was to use the IRS spring-loaded base system. This has been proven to be one of the most passively safe “low energy” absorbing sign bases in use on highways, and TMP has been using the bases for signs in car parks for a number of years as it recognises the benefits such a base type offers. The base is surface mounted, requiring no dig-out, which has obvious cost saving benefits. Car park infrastructure and vehicles can be prone to frequent damage while the vehicles manoeuvre within the spaces. The use of passive safety style signs allows the signs to absorb impact and result in less damage to infrastructure, vehicles and car park users and, as a consequence, help to create a safer and more clearly delineated environment for the car park users.
Having established the idea for the base it was then a relatively simple process to utilise TMP’s durable, moulded hazard markers with an extended post with a 300 mm roundel “disabled” or “parent and child” sign at a height of 1.7 m. The use of signs at this height with 3M Diamond Grade material ensures that they are clearly visible from a greater distance.
