Classroom365’s installation team has installed projectors and interactive whiteboards for 20 years.
Over the years, we have seen very unsafe installations completed by cowboy companies and unqualified individuals with alarming regularity.
We can help to check existing AV installations for safety. We can also quote for a new interactive panel and installation in the future. We work across the UK and offer schools and councils with the following:
- Conducting site-wide visual safety checks. Then, we’ll prepare a report and quote for any necessary remedial work on an existing hall or classroom projector installation.
- Inspections on all types of interactive whiteboards.
- Classroom365 is an accredited Clevertouch, Promethean and SMART Board supplier and installer.
- All our installation teams are enhanced DBS checked.
- A disposal service for removing old equipment and packaging from sites.
Our installations and inspections are completed by experts in the AV field. If you would like to find out more, please complete the contact form below.
Interactive Whiteboard Safety Facts – What You Need To Know
After reading the shocking news in January 2024 of a pupil seriously injured by an interactive whiteboard collapsing, we felt the need to write this page as advice to schools.
Typically, you must install an interactive whiteboard onto a solid wall such as brick or concrete. However, internal walls are often plasterboard, especially in new school building projects. Working with architects and builders, the Classroom365 ICT project management team will advise on requirements for load-bearing plasterboard walls and how they can be reinforced, ideally internally, for aesthetic and practical reasons. This is fine if done correctly and complies with building regulations.
If the wall isn’t reinforced, a floor and wall support must be used for a plasterboard wall. This isn’t just to prop up the board but must be bolted to the floor. The wall should not be taking the load weight.
Can Whiteboards on Trolleys Topple Over?
Yes, absolutely, they can. Do not purchase cheap trolleys from dubious online suppliers. Interactive panels are over 50 kg, and cheap trolleys for dry whiteboards or offices are unsuitable for classrooms.
Classroom365 recommends only a few manufacturers, such as Loxit and Clevertouch. They are designed specifically for schools. They are stable and, used responsibly, will not topple over.
Is Your AV Installation Safe?
Ceiling Projector Installation Safety
Ceiling projectors are different, as all school halls are unique. A projector can often only be installed in a specific place. This means only a particular projector can be used and every projector has different throw distance and size measurements. We would conduct a site survey before a recommendation.
Fortunately, in the last couple of years, laser projectors have dropped in price, and come with a 5-year warranty. Once it goes up, it stays up until a fault develops, with no maintenance. Laser projectors don’t require new lamps and there are no filters to clean.
Regarding maintenance, you won’t take a projector or panel down if installed correctly – the same with an interactive panel installation. A visible check and shake is no harm, but you wouldn’t remove a panel and put it back up to check it is fixed correctly in the first place!
Classroom365 hopes you have found this safety information useful. If you need further advice on AV installations or the latest interactive electronic whiteboard prices, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Mark Friend, BSc (Hons), is a Company Director at Classroom365 and has worked in technology for nearly 30 years. His IT career started with Rothschild Bank in Sydney, Australia, before working as a Global VPN Project Manager for the British Council. Mark has 20 years of experience in the UK education sector, helping schools integrate the latest tech into their curriculum and ICT vision.