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The same principle becomes even more pronounced in a healthcare or care environment. Here, users may move more slowly, use walking aids or wheelchairs, have impaired awareness or require assistance. A door system that may present an acceptable level of risk in one setting could require additional risk-reduction measures in another.
“ The technology may be the same, but the environment and the people using it can be completely different,” says Darren.“ That is why risk assessment has to be specific to the application. We need to consider how people will approach and move through the entrance, where hazards could arise and the severity of the potential consequences.”
The expanding scope of BS 7036 also brings that thinking to entrance control equipment such as speed lanes and powered turnstiles.
These systems are increasingly integrated with access control and other technologies, often within busy reception areas and transport, commercial or public environments. While BS EN 17352 provides the relevant product safety requirements, the wider assessment must consider how the equipment interacts with the people and environment around it.
That might include passenger flow, unfamiliar users, tailgating, luggage or mobility aids, as well as the possibility of children or vulnerable people encountering equipment that was principally designed for a different user profile. This is particularly relevant
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given the limitations within BS EN 17352 around certain vulnerable users – one of the areas the revised BS 7036 is intended to help address.
For Darren, this demonstrates why looking at individual products in isolation is no longer enough.
“ Whether we are considering a powered door, speed lane or turnstile, the starting point has to be the same: who is going to use it, how are they going to use it and what are the foreseeable risks?
“ Standards provide the framework, but it takes competent assessment to apply that framework appropriately to the real world.”
Raising the Standard on Risk
None of this diminishes the importance of BS EN 16005 or BS EN 17352. Both remain fundamental to establishing the safety requirements that powered pedestrian doors and entrance control equipment must meet.
What is changing is the emphasis placed on understanding how those products
perform within their specific application.
As entrance technology becomes more sophisticated and the industry develops a better understanding of vulnerability and foreseeable risk, knowing that a product complies with the relevant standard is no longer the end of the conversation.
BS 7036 provides the bridge between product requirements and their practical application – bringing together the equipment, environment, users and potential consequences within a structured approach to risk assessment and risk reduction.
For ADSA, that means BS 7036 should be considered throughout the life of an installation- from specification and design through installation, commissioning, operation and subsequent review. Specifiers, installers, occupiers, property owners, duty holders and other stakeholders all have a part to play in ensuring that foreseeable users and risks are considered, rather than treating risk assessment as an exercise carried out only at the point of installation.
Darren concludes:“ BS EN 16005 and BS EN 17352 remain absolutely fundamental, but increasingly we need to be just as confident in how we apply them.
“ That is where BS 7036 becomes so important. It takes us beyond asking whether a product meets the standard and makes us consider whether the complete installation is appropriate and safe for the people who will actually use it.”
Preparing for Change
With publication of the revised BS 7036 expected later this year, ADSA will continue to support the industry in understanding the changes and what they mean in practice. British Standards Institute( BSI) will also be hosting webinars around the launch to highlight changes covered by the standard.
Architects or specifiers currently working on building designs with automated entrance solutions should apply BS 7036:2026 amendments within their plans.
ADSA members can access technical guidance and standards support through its academy, alongside training and professional development courses designed to help ensure knowledge keeps pace with changing requirements.
To find out more about ADSA membership, visit www. adsa. org. uk
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Autumn 2026 Door Industry Journal