Garage door & safety

Garage Doors Kill 46 Children; Parents Urged to Update Openers.
WASHINGTON — At least 46 children have died in the last eight years because they were struck by automatic garage doors, government safety experts said Monday.

They urged that homeowners replace all garage doors that do not have automatic reverse. The children were killed when closing doors did not reopen automatically, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

The agency said children’s lives could be safeguarded by checking the garage door opener and having it repaired or replaced immediately if the door does not respond to striking an object.

Homeowners can check for the hazard by placing a two-inch wooden block in the path of the door, the commission said. “If the door does not promptly reverse on striking the block, the unit should be disengaged and a service technician called to see if repairs are needed,” it said.

The panel also said that units made after 1982 can be improved by installing an “electric eye” near the floor to cause a closing door to reopen if an object crosses its path.

Many garage door units made before 1982 do not have the automatic-reverse feature.

Some older doors have a device intended to cause a closing door to reverse, but, because of wear, poor maintenance or a bad installation, it may not function well enough to prevent a child’s death, the commission said.

Good reminder thanks Robert much appreciated … Roy

You understand this article is 28 years old and is virtually irrelevent today, right?!

So do think it is a bad, to post good old information ??

Looks like it is still irrelevant .

Shocking Garage Door Injury Statistics

  •        By             [Jill Smith](http://ezinearticles.com/expert/Jill_Smith/1166588)  |                           Submitted On December 18, 2014         *
    

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Whether it’s a residential garage door, massive dock door for a big box store or a roll-up door for a mall retail shop, one thing is certain: Without proper maintenance and repairs, overhead doors can be literal death traps. With reports peppering the nation about injuries from faulty sensors or outdated garage doors catching feet, children and pets, a subpar garage door is a huge liability. However, the actual injury statistics may surprise you.
According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance Survey (NEISS), the most common type of garage door injury is “pinch/crush section joints” which happens to about 7,550 Americans each year. This includes “fingers caught between section joints, (and) includes amputations, avulsions, etc.” It’s no surprise that this is the most common, but what’s astounding is just how serious these injuries can be. All it takes is a few skipped maintenance inspections or a bad spring to bring a lawsuit to your family or business.

“Crushing” Reports
The second most common injury occurs from “falling doors,” with over 2,100 Americans falling victim to this each year. According to NEISS, this happens when a “door falls for any reason” and includes reasons like a bad installation, outdated and un-maintained doors, or any other number of things. However, a quality garage door with solid installation won’t fall “for any reason”, which is why it’s paramount to demand both top notch doors and installation.
“Sharp edges” account for over 800 injuries every year, with NEISS defining it as “lacerations from garage door window glass.” Today’s garage doors-when they do feature glass-are shatter-resistant. Should they break, which is rare, it’s similar to when a car window breaks. The result is gummy and messy, but there aren’t any sharp edges. Unfortunately, that’s not true of older overhead doors.
Rounding Out the Top Offenses
“Other entrapment” happens to nearly 200 Americans every year. “Half of these were fingers caught between rollers and tracks” according to the research, and could also fall into the pinch/crush category. Tracks and rollers are some of the most common parts that need maintenance, but it’s always best to have a professional handle it.
“Race to beat the door” leads to around 135 injuries every year in the US. “People trying to get through the opening before the door closes” is a dangerous game, but a fruitless one if you have a good overhead door with sensors. When this is the case, the sensor will stop the door from closing (and perhaps re-open it) when there’s any movement detected.

Playing it Safe
Finally, “riding the door” can (not surprisingly) cause about 90 injuries per year in the US. This should be avoided with a little common sense, but of course that’s something children and teens don’t have in abundance. However, an overhead door that’s current and undergoes regular inspections *should *be able to hold the weight of a child-of course, that should never be put to the test.
The vast majority of these injuries are avoidable with common sense, maintenance and upgrades. Going without these three is a gamble no homeowner, landlord or business owner should take since the house (or in this case garage door) always wins.

Jill Smith is a writer and researcher. She is the Director of Digital Content Marketing for Be Locally SEO where she enjoys helping clients expand and improve their businesses through articles, blogs, website content and more.
For commercial, industrial and residential garage doors, see Canyon Overhead Doors serving northern Utah.

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/expert/Jill_Smith/1166588

I hope all of us test garage door openers. Even though, the article is old, suggesting to our clients that garage doors are checked regularly or upgraded is a good practice in my opinion.

A lot of us test doors by grabbing them at waist height and noting if the amount of pressure it takes to make them reverse seems excessive.

The way doors are designed, they reach maximum leverage just before they reach the floor- not at adult waist height- so if automatic reverse is out of adjustment or not working… I think most inspectors don’t realize how much force these doors can actually apply. We tend to get over-comfortable with them.

It doesn’t hurt to be reminded now and then that these doors have the capacity to kill. Kind of like dogs… it just takes one really bad one, and they’re out there.

Thanks Kenton.

Elderly woman in critical condition after being crushed by garage door at Riverside Towers.
Published Tuesday, January 9, 2018 2:07PM MST
Last Updated Wednesday, January 10, 2018 4:13PM MST
UPDATE: The original version of this story indicated the victim had died as a result of her injuries. As of 4:00 p.m., the victim remains in critical condition at the Foothills Medical Centre