We’re planning on passing on lots of practical safety related information during 2013 to help ensure our industry is as accident free as possible. This has come about following a visit to an existing (not new) sliding gate installation by the HSE. We were able to get involved with the case after the HSE was called in and the gate was deactivated and locked open. The installer is a long-standing professional with many years experience and the issues cited for the HSE’s action were not expected by him.
This highlighted for us just how easy it can be to install what is thought to be a safe gate but actually turns out not to meet all the requirements laid out in the masses of guidance and legislation that exists today.
There has to be a simpler way so we’ve started to look at gate installation from the side of the installer when you’re on site. Safety audits already exist but everything looks so complicated so how can we simplify it all? We’d be very interested to hear from anyone with any comments, thoughts or requests relating to this issue.
In the meantime, here are a few more details about the gate mentioned above.
- It was a sliding gate at the entrance to a residential gated community so appearance was important
- The gate was operated by a 24Vdc motor with obstacle detection
- The gate was manufactured by the installer and was free from sharp edges, burs, etc
- The vertical bars were under the required distance apart.
The issue raised by the HSE concerned where the sliding gate passed over the metal fence railings as it opened or closed. The installer was convinced that obstacle detection would prevent any injury to anyone stupid enough to pass a limb through the railing and get caught between the moving gate and the static fence resulting in a shearing accident.
For even greater safety on commercial gates, this installer always advises that mesh is included on either the gate or the fence in the cross-over danger area. However, there was an issue with the aesthetic of these gates because they were at the entrance of a a gated residential community.
The HSE’s ruling was that obstacle detection is NOT enough and could fail in such a way that the gate does not stop when an obstacle is detected, so an additional level of safety IS required.
One option available to the installer to make this gate safe would have included preventing any access to the danger area where the gate and fence overlap during opening and closing. This is the best form of safety – exclusion from the danger zone.
The next best would have been to physically reduce the danger by installing mesh on the gate or the railings in the overlap zone, but still allow full access to the area.
Finally, electronic safety devices such as 24V motors with obstacle detection, safety edges, photocells etc provide safety at a level that can be avoided, can fail to unsafe or can be tampered with.
When assessing the degree of potential danger, this third level of safety is often considered to be inadequate without the inclusion of additional safety precautions.
These precautions only relate to the one safety issue covered here. All other danger areas, such as the gate’s edges approaching pillars or the leading edge of the gate on opening and closing, have to be considered individually with the same approach.
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