HARDWARE & SECURITY
DHF IMPLORES FOR TRAINING AND
COMPLIANCE FOLLOWING DEATH OF SIX-
YEAR-OLD CRUSHED BY UNSAFE GATE
» » TAMWORTH-BASED TRADE
association, DHF (Door & Hardware
Federation), has called on the industry
to ‘do better’ with regards to training and
compliance, following the tragic death of a
six-year-old boy who was crushed to death
by an automated gate.
The horrific incident took place in
an underground carpark on Leylands
Road, Leeds, on 31 October 2015, and
has resulted in the prosecution, and
subsequent fining of, Bradford-based
company, Bradfabs Limited.
The hearing at Leeds Crown Court
heard that the boy was playing with
friends on the gate, pushing it open and
closed. The gate was pushed beyond
the retaining mechanism as no end
stop had been fitted to the gate track.
The gate fell over, trapping and fatally
crushing the child.
Following an investigation by the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE),
Bradfabs Limited pleaded guilty to
breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health
and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and
was fined £30,000 and ordered to
pay full costs of £12,411.46. HSE
determined that the company that
had manufactured and installed the
electric gate failed to install an end
stop, and that no-one else involved
in commissioning or maintaining the
gate over the next six years noticed and
rectified the deficiency.
This tragic accident, and resulting
prosecution, follows numerous similar
incidents over recent years involving
derailments or hinge failures that have
led to a gate falling and causing serious
injuries or fatality. Common to all these
incidents has been the lack of effective
travel stops.
DHF is keen to remind all those
involved in the supply, installation,
maintenance and management of gate
systems that all gate systems, regardless
of design, must include effective travel
stops that will prevent derailment
and falling under all foreseeable
conditions:
• in normal use,
• when electrical/electronic travel
limiting systems suffer a fault
• when the gate is being used
manually.
“Many people have commented
that it seems strange that the original
manufacturer has been prosecuted in
this case rather than the more common
outcome of the maintenance company
being prosecuted,” explains DHF’s
Senior Training and Compliance Officer,
Nick Perkins. “But we would remind all
companies involved in manufacture,
installation, maintenance and repair of
gates, doors and barriers, of the advice given
to our industry by HSE following a high-
profile prosecution in 2014, resulting from
the death of Karolina Golabek in 2010.
“The prime function of identifying the
responsibilities of duty holders is not
to hold them accountable when things
go wrong, but to ensure things don’t go
wrong in the first place. Don’t think what
do I need to do to avoid prosecution?
Rather, what do I need to do to ensure the
installation is safe?”
Nick continues: “It must be understood
that, in the event of an incident with a
system, the ensuing investigation will
assess the input and actions of all parties
associated and no guarantee of the
outcome can be given. The investigation
will ask who did what, what did those
involved know about the condition of the
offending system and then what action
could they have reasonably taken, or did
they take, to prevent the occurrence?
Whilst we do not have intimate
details from HSE as to why a particular
company has in fact been prosecuted in
this instance, we remind all concerned
that legal responsibilities exist in equal
measure for manufacturers, installers,
owners, managers, maintainers and
repairers. The passage of time does not
negate those responsibilities; although
recent prosecutions have seemed to
place a higher responsibility on the
last person on site, this does not mean
that there is no liability to anyone with
previous involvement. The only way
that anyone in our industry can remain
immune from legal liabilities is to ensure
that the systems they manufacture/
install are safe and that all existing
systems are left in a safe condition
following maintenance or repair. Safe
and compliant systems do not lead to
injury, death or prosecution.
“We address all of these points in our
publication DHF TS 011:2019, a Technical
Specification for the design, manufacture,
installation and maintenance of
automated gates and traffic barriers, and
which are fully covered in the DHF gate
training courses. DHF offers training
and guidance material to all industry
stakeholders in the pursuit of safer
systems and to prevent death, injury,
or prosecution. This is not exclusive
to automated gates. DHF also offers
training and a Technical Specification for
Industrial and Garage doors.”
Details of all DHF training can be
found here: https://www.dhfonline.
org.uk/training.htm and all Technical
Specifications can be found here:
www.dhfonline.org.uk/publications/
technical-specifications/1.htm
60
SEP/OCT 2019
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