Gate safety testing
Automated gate force testing to BS EN 12453 and BS EN 12445
The force and safety testing of powered gates and barriers required for CE/UKCA marking under the Machinery Regulations, measuring impact forces at defined points against the limits in BS EN 12453.
A powered gate is a machine, and the installer who completes it is its manufacturer under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations: they must carry out a risk assessment, ensure it meets the essential health and safety requirements, test it, issue a declaration of conformity and mark it. BS EN 12453 sets the safety requirements for the use of power-operated doors and gates, including the maximum forces a moving leaf may exert on a person at specified points (the closing edges, the hinge side, the points of shear and crush), and BS EN 12445 specifies how those forces are measured with a calibrated force tester. The readings, at each point, in each direction, are recorded and compared with the dynamic and static limits and the time to reduce to residual force.
Several children and adults have been killed by automated gates in the UK, and the HSE has prosecuted installers and maintainers. The recorded force test, together with the risk assessment, the safety edges and photocells, the manual release, and the handover information to the owner, is the installer's evidence of compliance and the maintainer's record at each service. Sites with automated gates at the entrance have them within their own duty of care to visitors and the public.
Where it comes from
- Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 (as amended) and the UKCA marking of machinery.
- BS EN 12453 (Industrial, commercial and garage doors and gates: safety in use of power operated doors) and BS EN 12445 (test methods).
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 s.3 and the Occupiers' Liability Acts for gates in use.
Questions people ask
Who is responsible for a gate that was installed years ago?
The owner, as the person in control, has a duty to keep it safe; the maintainer who services it has a duty of care for the work they do and to flag non-compliance. Installers have been prosecuted for installations, and maintainers for servicing gates they knew were unsafe.
How often should forces be tested?
At installation, after any change to the drive, leaf or safety devices, and at every service as part of the maintenance record. Many maintainers test annually as a minimum; the risk assessment and the manufacturer's instructions set the interval.
Gate safety testing, handled on a phone
SiteLynx puts the RAMS, permits, inspections, audits, plant checks and records behind every term in this glossary on the crew's phones, signed on site, with a PDF at the end. 14 days free, no card.
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