A recent inquest into an incident in 2015 has highlighted the need for automated vehicle gates to fully protect pedestrians as required by EN 12453:2017 + A1:2021, the harmonised standard which defines the minimum level of safety to comply with the Machinery Directive. The incident led to a successful prosecution by The Health & Safety Authority (HSA) against Limerick City & County Council in November 2021.
The gate in question was able to fatally crush a worker at the site as he opened the premises due to the inadequate safety provision provided. The gate could be operated by mobile phone, or fob operation and relied on a single photobeam located inside the gate to protect pedestrians. The fact that the mobile phone operation can be carried out from anywhere in the world was identified by HSA as a factor which seriously impacted the safety of the gate.
The minimum levels of safety prescribed by the standard for protection of crush, shear or draw in hazards are:
The fact that the gate could be activated by a mobile phone, means that the requirement for Hold to Run operation could not be fully met. As identified by HSA, the gate could have been operated from anywhere in the world with no knowledge of any people or other obstacles in the path of the gate. A Safe Contact, or Non-Contact system would have averted this tragedy, preventing the worker from being crushed by a 1 tonne gate.
Experience has shown that injuries or deaths caused by automated gates occur in non-compliant systems, and as part of the DHF commitment to increasing gate safety, we offer online and face-to-face training, along with a code of practice on achieving compliance with the above standards.
8th November 2023
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