What Are The Commercial Garage Door Safety Requirements in My Country?
What Are The Commercial Garage Door Safety Requirements in My Country?
Understanding the specific commercial garage door safety requirements is critical to any business looking to prevent catastrophic injury, equipment damage, or lost product. These heavy overhead doors can be found throughout large manufacturing facilities, plants, and loading docks. As these doors are used continuously during normal business operations, they must be inspected, maintained, and outfitted with robust emergency stop devices to prevent the door from freefalling in the event of other mechanical failures. As the world continues to implement stringent safety protocols, business owners are responsible for understanding the specific commercial garage door safety requirements in their country. This article discusses the importance of following these safety guidelines, the different organizational standards, and how Safe-T Support overhead safety devices offer unparalleled levels of protection.
What Standards Apply to Commercial Garage Doors?
Various internationally recognized standards dictate the manufacturing, testing installation, and maintenance requirements for both commercial and residential overhead doors. While the majority of these accepted standards provide similar levels of safety and protection from commercial overhead doors, some slight differences are worth mentioning.
ANSI/CAN/UL 325 Binational Standard
The ANSI/CAN/UL 325 commercial door safety requirements outline the “minimum product safety construction, testing, manufacturing, and installation requirements for commercial and residential doors.” The creation of UL 325 helped to align safety requirements along all unique product variants and serves as a guiding protocol for the industry in both the United States and Canada. Under UL 325 binational standard, all commercial doors must have a safety entrapment protection device installed at the entrapment zone. These devices must be regularly maintained and free of any obstructions that could prevent proper operation.
Canadian Standards Association (CSA) C22.2 No. 247-14
The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is an essential workplace safety organization that is heavily involved in establishing commercial garage door safety requirements, especially those located in heavily trafficked loading docks. CSA C22.2 No. 247-14 includes guidelines for regular dock inspections that identify possible hazards such as damage to overhead doors, inadequate lighting, installed emergency stop devices, and any inefficiencies with workflow patterns or traffic management underneath the loading dock door itself. The Canadian Standards Association is crucial to the proper enforcement of UL 325 and is focused on preventing serious injuries or fatalities from overhead door malfunctions.
European Standard (EN) 13241-1
First established in May of 2005, the European Standard EN 13241-1 outlined a new set of requirements for every garage door system sold and installed throughout Europe. Similar to the standards of UL 325, this European Standard is required for garage door systems in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and fourteen other countries. EN 13241 requires garage doors to incorporate trap protection between the track and frame, anti-drop safety devices, pinch resistances, internally routed cables, and a spring containment system that prevents broken springs from flying into the air and potentially causing injury or damage. This standard goes a step further and incorporates additional guidelines for water tightness, wind resistance, and thermal resistance.
Importance of Meeting Commercial Garage Door Safety Requirements
There are several reasons why it is important to adhere to the specific commercial garage door safety requirements in your country like UL 325 or EN 13241-1. With frequent traffic of both employees and equipment passing underneath these heavy overhead doors, adhering to these requirements is just as important as other standard protocols like fire safety, eye wash stations, or first aid.
- Avoid Injury: Injuries to employees or anyone else in your facility are the worst-case scenario for any business owner and a leading cause is failing overhead doors. In addition to the financial cost of these preventable injuries, businesses also lose important working hours and valuable experience.
- Prevent Equipment Damage: Forklifts, trucks, and raw materials are all susceptible to damage caused by commercial garage doors without proper maintenance or supplemental safety devices. This type of damage can result in tremendous financial loss, facility downtime, and even complete shut-downs that compromise a business’s future.
- Remain Compliant: Although it seems like an obvious answer, remaining compliant prevents fines associated with annual inspections. Ensuring each employee is trained to properly operate garage doors and any integrated emergency stop devices is an often overlooked facet of compliance and should be part of any initial training for new hires.
- Build A Safe Working Environment: A safer working environment is statistically proven to increase employee productivity and overall well-being. By adhering to commercial garage door safety requirements business owners eliminate the worry or anxiety of experiencing a workplace injury that could result in lost wages or even permanent disability.
Can Safe-T Support Safety Devices Help Meet Commercial Overhead Door Regulations?
Yes, Safe-T Support anti-drop devices are a critical component for companies to meet the rigid commercial garage door safety requirements. While they do not cover all aspects of garage door safety covered by UL 325 or EN 13241-1, anti-drop devices can immediately stop a free-falling door and prevent injury or costly equipment damage. With three different operation methods ranging from manual to fully automated, these products are essential to creating a safer working environment and meeting any regulatory standards in the United States, Canada, and Europe. These devices are customizable for nearly any size overhead door and can be self-installed or installed by experienced technicians for Safe-T Support. For more information on these innovative products and how they can help your business meet commercial overhead door safety requirements, please contact a member of our team.