Clearview National July 2019 - Issue 212 | Page 56
FIRESAFETY& SECURITY
Fatal industrial door
accident highlights
importance of
proper training
Tamworth-based trade association, DHF
(Door & Hardware Federation), is ‘hammering
home’ the significance of appropriate training,
following the tragic death of a woman
killed in an industrial door incident.
» » THE ACCIDENT, WHICH TOOK
place in August 2016, and described by Health
& Safety Executive (HSE) inspector, Graeme
Warden, as ‘one that could have been avoided’,
has resulted in Cambridgeshire-based electrical
company, BS Graves (Electrical) Limited,
being fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs
amounting to £6,500.
An inquest held in Huntingdon last year,
heard that 40-year-old social worker, Heidi
Chalkley’s hands became trapped in the
shutter door mechanism as it opened. She
suffered multiple fractures to her ribs, spine,
arms and jawbone and died at the scene. The
inquest concluded that the cause of death was
misadventure because she had attempted to
ride up on the door. The inquest also found
that the door was not as safe as it should have
been.
An investigation by the Health and Safety
Executive found that sensors at the top of
the door, (which should have stopped it),
were incorrectly wired and did not function
properly as the door opened. It was also
found that BS Graves (Electrical) Limited had
carried out work on the roller shutter door at
Ruth Bagnall Court since 2012, and despite
inspecting the door a month prior to the
accident, they had failed to check and test the
operation of the safety systems on the door
and identify the fault. The company based
in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty at
Peterborough Magistrates’ Court to breaching
Section 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work
etc Act 1974.
“This type of incident has been well
documented in the past, with similar
56 » JUL 2019 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
accidents involving children
across Europe, initiating the
standard EN 12453 for this type
of door to include the need for
protection to prevent an incident
of this nature,” explains DHF’s
Senior Training and Compliance
Officer, Nick Perkins. “EN 12453 has, since
2000, required that doors with the ability to
lift persons be protected by one of four safety
strategies:
i. the door be operated in hold-to-run
by a trained user with full sight of the
door, or
ii. the door be torque limited such that it
cannot lift a person, or
iii. high level fail-safe beams be provided
to detect a person being lifted during
opening, or
iv. the door be protected by light curtains
that prevent opening if a person is
present on the door.
In the case of Heidi Chalkley, the high-
level beams were not functional, despite
being installed.”
Following the inquest, Mr Warden
highlighted a lack of appropriate training
of employees at BS Graves (Electrical)
Limited.
“We continue to stress the vital importance
of the correct level of training for all those
with both legal and moral responsibility
for the installation, maintenance, repair
and dismantling of potentially dangerous
equipment, such as industrial doors,” says
DHF’s CEO, Bob Perry.
“Very tragically, this case has resulted in a
fatality that could so easily have been avoided.
It is absolutely imperative that those working
on doors such as this, are equipped with
specialist knowledge of applicable standards
and legislation, together with the technical
expertise to identify the hazard, assess and
test the presence and function of acceptable
protection systems. As this tragedy illustrates
quite clearly, door system maintenance cannot
be achieved by visual inspection alone or by
those with insufficient training, experience or
test equipment.”
DHF has published codes of practice for the
industrial door, automated gate and barrier
industry and provides standards and legislation
training for all.
“We advise those with ownership and
management responsibilities to ensure that
their maintenance contractors have the
professional training, qualification, and
equipment required, and that managers,
supervisors and operatives are suitably
trained in the craft, legislation & standards.”
concludes Bob.
For further information regarding technical
specifications, please visit DHF’s website:
https://www.dhfonline.org.uk/publications/
technical-specifications/1.htm