Industry News
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
14
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 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 and
standards,” concludes Bob.
For further information regarding
technical specifications, please visit
DHF’s website: www.dhfonline.org.uk/
publications/technical-specifications/1.
htm
JUL/AUG 2019
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