Importance of Door Safety in a Workplace

As a business owner, if you have not run safety checks on the doors in your business premises already you may want to do that as soon as possible. Accidents can never be foreseen and they always bring with them a ton of problems and distress. In a traumatic turn of events, if any of your employees get their fingers trapped in the hinges of a door and suffer major injuries – and perhaps even a partial amputation – you can be fined hundreds, if not thousands of pounds in reparations.

So what can you do to prevent accidents like this?

Door-related finger injuries are unfortunate but luckily for you, they can easily be prevented if appropriate door safety measures are put in place. Though there are no strict laws specifying that door safety products are mandatory, but it is nowadays a standard practice to install them in workplaces.

Here are some ideas to help prevent injuries:

• Fit door guards to any door an uninformed employee might use – it is fairly inexpensive and simple. With doors used by aged employees, finger guards are also commonly installed on the side of the door where the hinge pins are seen to avoid injuries.
• Consider installing anti-door slam devices to slow down the momentum of door closing (though this will not entirely prevent the risk)
• Alternative measures to avert accidents include holding open or doing away with a door altogether or installing a sliding door. Check with your fire risk assessor before doing this. Alternative choices may be to limit access to an area or monitor its use.

Bear in mind that putting door finger protectors in your doors is not enough. You must also see to it that your staff members are trained in their health and safety duties and those who are assigned health and safety undertakings (like risk assessment) are skilled to carry them out. Evaluate the risks to employees and others affected by business activities to make certain of the health and safety measures that are called for and, in certain conditions, maintain a record of the important findings of that valuation

In summary, outline measures to mitigate door-related injuries (risk management), instruct your workers regarding the risks and measures to be taken to manage the risks, make sure that adequate training is given to workers on health and safety matters and most importantly, set out health and safety arrangements in a written health and safety policy for your business.