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death. Intended to be an aid for
the door, it has instead caused
accident and tragedy.
After the case, the
Department of Health
suggested that risk assessments
should be carried out on all
fire door closing devices to
assess appropriate closing
times, taking into account the
occupancy of the building. For
locksmiths who are ‘self-taught’
and have little knowledge in
these electro-magnetic devices
and risk assessments, we can
immediately see how ongoing
training in this area will benefit
them.
HEALTH, SAFETY AND
SECURITY COMPLIANCE
– THE UNWRITTEN
‘DUTY OF CARE’
In many commercial cases,
it is the role of the facilities
manager, or representative of
the estate, to guarantee the
health and safety and security of
occupants, and there are strict
guidelines and classifications
to door hardware that must be
met.
However, the varying level
and difference in understanding
of door hardware across
both facilities managers and
locksmiths leads to different
ideas between the two parties.
The former may be constrained
by budgets and ‘the bigger
picture,’ while the latter may
focus on single aspects of
doorways and locks, particularly
if they are not acclimatised to
electro-mechanical systems that
are in place or being planned.
These blurred lines can be
difficult to navigate, and health
and safety can be compromised
if one party or the other is
negligent in their ‘Duty of Care,’
which is another unwritten code
of conduct.
Take lockdown situations for
example – a popular topic given
the amount of security issues we
are now accustomed to seeing in
the media.
In the US, many schools are
more accustomed to drilling
students and staff on lockdown
procedures and may also be
advised on lockdown hardware.
It is less common in the UK,
but our access control systems
are now ready to combat these
situations, if required.
For the un-initiated
locksmith though, there may
be skills gaps which cannot be
plugged – and this can lead to
improper solutions, or even
botched jobs. When faced in a
lockdown situation, if there is a
fault in the locking systems, this
can be life-threatening.
When botched jobs do
happen, it then becomes a
story of whose duty of care it is
to maintain the working order
of the building and the locks
– has the locksmith correctly
set the locking devices, or have
they set them to what they
think is the correct setting,
when it actually is not for that
building’s particular use? Who
is liable?
An unfortunate case
whereby duty of care of
the locksmith was called
into question happened
in 1981 in the US, way
before our hardware was as
technologically advanced as it
is today.
Lori Einhorn was
unfortunately assaulted
during a visit to her then
fiancé Kenneth Einhorn’s flat
by an assailant who was not
a tenant of the building. The
case was brought against the
building landlord David Seeley
and locksmith REM Discount
Security Products. The claim
was that the front door lock
on the building was allegedly
broken to an extent where it
could be opened “with a firm
push, even when locked,” and
that as installers of the lock,
REM allegedly had a duty of
care to the plaintiffs for their
faulty installation.
In the end, the judge ruled
that REM did not have a duty
of care or liability towards
Lori Einhorn, as, amongst
others, these was no special
relationship between her and
the locksmith.
However, we can start to
see where locksmiths may get
embroiled in complex cases
of liability, particularly with
electro-mechanical access
control hardware where there
are many stakeholders in the
process.
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL.CO.UK | JUL/AUG 2017
Sponsored by SMP Security Solutions
SHORT-TERM COSTS,
LONG-TERM GAINS
As with all training, there is an
associated cost. It can be hard
to see past this cost if benefits
are viewed as minimal or not
even applicable to current
situations. For locksmiths who
have conventionally worked
purely in mechanical locks, it
is even harder to see why they
themselves will need training in
disciplines such as biometrics or
computer-aided systems, when
traditionally these applications
have only been used in select,
sensitive buildings.
However, we as manufacturers
are constantly exploring
technology that can enhance
door hardware capabilities and
the customer experience, simply
because we believe in innovating
for the better. Technologically
enhanced door hardware will
soon be more accepted as the
norm as we become accustomed
to the benefits it offers, as well
as if costs on such hardware
continues to fall.
If we do not, therefore,
encourage our locksmiths
to train, in the end we are
ultimately costing more to our
buildings, and to the welfare of
our occupants.