CPD Specifier May 2015 issue September 2015 | Page 16

Security

Powered gate
companies step
up their safety
campaign
Attention all those professionals involved
in the installation, maintenance and
inspection of powered gates: Gate Safety
Week is just weeks away. In the run up
to Gate Safety Week, safety campaigners
have been stepping up their bid to raise
awareness of the risks posed by poorly
installed and maintained automatic gates.
In particular they are getting their gate
safety message across to surveyors,
building and construction professionals,
architects and local authority officials
such as architectural liaison officers and
environmental health officers

A powered gate like this is perfectly safe to use:
it complies with current legislation and has been
properly installed and maintained.

Gate Safety Week, safety campaigners have
been stepping up their bid to raise awareness
of the risks posed by poorly installed and
maintained automatic gates.

Gate Safety Week is being held on October 12-18 (www.gatesafetyweek.
org.uk) and is being organised by the Door & Hardware Federation.
The DHF is hammering home a key message: all those responsible for
automated gates - owners, maintainers, installers - must ensure the gates
are safe to use.

They explain what the risks are and how those risks can be identified by
testing and then eliminated.
“Our industry will no longer tolerate unsafe automated gate installations
being carrier out by unskilled installers, or gates that are dangerous due to
lack of testing and maintenance.”

In recent years, three children and three adults have been killed in gate
accidents in the UK. There are more than 500,000 automated gates in
service in car parks, commercial buildings, schools, apartment blocks and
public buildings around the country - yet it is estimated less than 30 per
cent of these are safe to use.

It is not just building professionals and those responsible for gate safety
inspection and enforcement that are being targeted in the campaign.
Campaigners are spreading the word to parents and homeowners as well.
Parents are being urged to get assurances from their education authority
that all automated gates at schools and public buildings have been
checked for safety. An automatic driveway residential gate has become
the aspirational property accessory for so many homeowners. But dangers
could lurk at the end of the driveway, the safety campaigners have been
telling homeowners. There is potential danger if that gate has been poorly
installed, has not been maintained or does not meet current legislation.

Neil Sampson is the Chairman of the DHF Powered Gate Group,
which represents Britains leading manufacturers, suppliers, installers
and maintainers of powered automatic gates and gate automation
equipment. He is currently presenting a series of Continuous Professional
Development (CPD) seminars organised by Direct Contact Exhibitions.
During the seminars, Neil describes the large scale of the problem of
unsafe gates, outlines the legislation and standards governing gate safety
and shows who is responsible for ensuring both new and existing gate
installations are compliant and safe.

Said Neil, “Gates are machines not playthings. Parents and householders
need the assurance that all powered gates - whether at home, school or
anywhere else - are as safe as they possibly can be. As the industry that
makes, installs and maintains powered gates, we’re absolutely determined
to do everything we can to ensure no more tragic accidents happen.”

“Properly installed and maintained automated gates that comply with
current legislation are perfectly safe to use - but the majority of them still
do not comply with current legislation and are potentially dangerous,” said
Neil.

The DHF is pointing out in its campaign that virtually all powered gates
can be brought up to the current safety standards which will help
ensure that accidents and injuries cannot occur. The DHF is offering the
reassurance that a DHF Safety Assured Engineer can advise on what
measures - if any - are needed to ensure safe operation of the gate.

“The proportion of unsafe gates is thankfully falling as installation
standards in the industry continue to rise, due to responsible
manufacturers and installers joining our gate safety campaign. But there is
much more work to do.

Anyone with powered gate safety concerns are advised to phone the gate
safety helpline on 01827 52337. More information and advice is available
on the Gate Safety Week website, www.gatesafetyweek.org.uk

“The seminars are designed to show that the standards governing gate
safety are actually in place to help those responsible for powered gates.

GATE SAFETY WEEK

The DHF is offering the reassurance that a
DHF Safety Assured Engineer can advise
on what measures - if any