How to reduce breakdowns and personal injury from electric gates.
Component parts can wear and fail, sometimes catastrophically. Like most machinery, powered gates need to be maintained regularly, by a specialist gate installer to ensure they remain in safe working order.
Under Health and Safety laws whether it’s owners, occupiers, landlords and managing agents all have on-going responsibilities to ensure that the electric gates to their properties, are safe for users and anyone else that may come into contact with the gate. This goes well beyond normal use and includes situations such as; children playing around or on a gate. As well as a number of adverse environmental influences such as wind, snow and debris that can all impair an electric gates functionality.
However, there are also a few simple steps that you can take as the owner of automated gates that will help to extend its service life and reduce issues from occurring in the first place. Below are some tips from the experts:
Tips to keep your gate safe
- Similar to a motor vehicle, gates must be regularly serviced.
- Make sure to always use a qualified gate installer.
- Keep a maintenance record, verifying that your gate is properly maintained.
- Where applicable, ask for an inspection certificate stating that the gate meets all necessary safety requirements.
- Remain aware of any changes to the situation around the gate, e.g. if the area around the gate gets overgrown the gate may fail to close properly. Or, if you remove a fence or wall, it may expose vulnerable components of the gate.
- Clean the photocells. If the cell is covered with dust or dirt, it will prevent the sensor from detecting motion and could prevent the gate from sensing a person or object in the gate’s path.
- Never use a high-pressure washer to clean your gates as it could damage the gate and drive unit.
- Most importantly, never, ever attempt to do any mechanical or electrical work on the gate yourself! Your gate is an electrical system with a host of mechanical components. Gate installers are trained to maintain your gate safely and responsibly, and hold the relevant certificates required to work according to health and safety procedures.
For more information on gate servicing and maintenance contact our Perimeter Security Team. Alternatively, the Health and Safety Executive offer a comprehensive guide here.