15 years ago this week, a Gate Safety Summit was hosted in London at the Institute of Directors, designed to tackle the serious issue of automated gate and barrier safety following the deaths of two young children in separate gate accidents. The meeting signalled an industry first, bringing together representatives from a broad cross section of companies and generic trade and safety organisations, who all had a role to play in calling for the introduction of tighter guidelines and legislation pertaining to automated gate safety. So, 15 years on, what has changed?
Gate Safe, the charity behind the inaugural summit, takes a look at what improvements have been made:
- Awareness of the importance of automated gate safety amongst installers and other associated professionals has shifted from minimal to becoming mainstream
- The fitting of photocells on barriers was previously unheard of, today, photocells are an accepted part of the safety protocol
- British Standards were very much viewed as the definitive framework to ensure a safe and compliant automated gate or barrier, now the Gate Safe recommendation for a risk assessment approach – which considers the specific key factors for an individual gate – is acknowledged, rather than a complete reliance on the standards
- Safety edges, once not always fitted to a gate / barrier and regularly not fitted on both sides of the gate, now feature more heavily on the majority of new installations
- In the wake of so many falling gate accidents, Gate Safe’s continued recommendation for either a third hinge and / or a fall arrest system – a gate tether – to mitigate the risk of a falling gate, continues to gather support
- In the unfortunate event of an automated gate or barrier incident, Gate Safe is now regularly sought out by both HSE and Trading Standards as an Expert Witness, providing independent technical input to help understand what went wrong, why and what steps should have been taken to prevent the accident occurring
- From 0 to nearly 4,000, there are now approaching 4000 installers on the Gate Safe register, representing 1500 organisations who have all taken the IOSH approved Gate Safe training course (their details can be found on the new Gate Safe website)
- The training which was originally launched as face-to-face only, now includes an online offering, resulting in training running every single week
- Gate Safe remains the go-to source for independent, impartial and unbiased surveys on an existing automated gate or barrier installation
- Gate owners can now access a Gate Safe MOT providing a clear visual reference for gate users, that a gate has been installed / maintained in line with best industry practice
Commenting on the achievements made, Gate Safe founder Richard Jackson OBE (pictured left) said: “Whilst it is incredibly fulfilling to look back to see the progress that has been made, this is not a time for complacency as there is still much more that can be done to improve safety of automated gates. As long as the profession remains unregulated, there will always be those “accidental installers” operating in the field, who remain ignorant, or perhaps just oblivious, to the steps that need to be taken to deliver a safe and compliant installation. Similarly, the sale of automated gate kits to the general public enables a complete amateur to transform a manual gate into a dangerous machine. Gate Safe remains committed to its original founding objectives – to put a stop to any further accidents occurring because of an unsafe gate or barrier – and we will continue to lobby the relevant bodies to instigate further change.”
