Beyond Compliance:

Why BS 7036 Matters More Than Ever

AS THE powered pedestrian door and entrance control sector adapts to changing technologies, broader product applications and a greater focus on user vulnerability, one familiar British Standard is set to assume an increasingly important role. Darren Hyde, Head of Technical at the Automatic Door Suppliers Association( ADSA), explains why the revised BS 7036 will put risk assessment firmly at the heart of safe specification, installation and operation.

For many within the powered pedestrian door industry, BS EN 16005 has long been the standard most readily associated with safety. It establishes safety-in-use requirements and test methods for powered pedestrian doors, while BS EN 17352 performs a similar role for powered pedestrian entrance control equipment such as speed lanes and turnstiles.

But meeting the requirements of a product standard is only part of the picture.

Both these standards require risk assessment in line with BS EN ISO 12100- incorporating safety of machinery, general principles for design, risk assessment and risk reduction. It sets out a generic machinery risk-assessment framework while BS 7036 applies that thinking specifically to pedestrian door and entrance systems in the UK.

This distinction matters because meeting the minimum safeguarding requirements of the relevant product standard does not, in itself, establish that an installation is appropriate for every foreseeable user. The application-specific risk assessment must consider the people who could encounter the system, the environment in which it operates and the potential consequences of contact.

Increasingly, the challenge is understanding how a door or entrance system will actually be used, who will use it and what

Darren Hyde

risks arise within its particular environment. That is where BS 7036 comes into its own.

Currently being revised, BS 7036 provides the UK code of practice for risk assessment and risk reduction. Its new scope will encompass powered pedestrian doors conforming to BS EN 16005, powered pedestrian entrance control equipment conforming to BS EN 17352 including manually operated revolving doors and turnstiles. It provides guidance on hazard analysis and risk assessment for everyone from suppliers and installers to specifiers, property owners and duty holders.

For Darren Hyde, ADSA’ s Head of Technical and a member of the standards committees helping to shape the industry’ s technical framework, this represents an important shift in emphasis.

“ The product standards tell us the safety requirements that systems need to meet, but BS 7036 helps us apply those requirements to the real environment in which a door or entrance system is being used. That’ s becoming increasingly important because risk isn’ t determined by the product alone- it’ s about the application, the users and the potential consequences if something goes wrong.”

BS EN160052023

That distinction is particularly important at specification stage. BS 7036 places emphasis on establishing predicted user characteristics and precise operational requirements, including the volume and type of pedestrian traffic likely to use an installation. It also calls for a full hazard analysis and risk assessment so that the final installation is safe for all foreseeable users. In practice, this means safety cannot be considered solely at the point of installation: the risk assessment needs to inform decisions from specification onwards.

From Numbers to Consequences

One of the most significant developments concerns the way vulnerability and high-risk applications are considered.

Under the previous approach, an environment might typically have been considered high risk where a large proportion of users were vulnerable – a hospital or care home being obvious examples.

BSI’ s rationale for the revision highlights the change introduced by BS EN 16005:2023: assessment is moving away from simply considering the proportion of vulnerable users towards considering who could use the door and the consequences of contact. This includes people

Autumn 2026 Door Industry Journal