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If you haven’t carried out a door safety checklist on your doorways recently, this research data might shock you!
Every year, over thirty thousand children under the ages of 15 have been admitted to hospitals because of their finger/thumb/hand injuries caused by door and door frames. And this is only in the UK! The injuries that may occur from these types of accidents may result from seemingly minor bruising to door incidents fractures. In some rare cases, they can even result in amputation!
Young children in school are particularly susceptible to finger entrapment injuries. These types of incidents not only bring down the value of your school but also result in substantial financial loss. So, as a school owner, you should install finger protection devices in your school’s doors.
What are door finger protection devices?
Finger guards are designed to protect little ones’ fingers from being trapped between the hinges’ side during the opening and closing of doors. Unique, inconspicuous, and easy to install, these safety guards are also often fitted on the hinge side of entrances to prevent risk. When they are fitted between the doors’ hinges, they completely block access for fingers and hands between the hinge gap areas of entry as well as reduce liability and avoid an unexpected tragedy.
What type of finger protector is perfect for your doors?
There is no denying that the selection of the right door protection device is essential to ensure children are not at the risk of finger entrapment. Here’s a quick guide on some of the door types and the safety devices that fit them the best:
Rising Butt Hinged Door
Rising butt hinged door is used on toilet cubicles in schools, nurseries, and even offices. Unlike standards butt hinge, a rising butt hinge has only one diagonal joint. When you push it open and close automatically, this will allow your door to rise slightly. It's one way opening to 90 degrees increases the risk of finger trapping injuries. For this type of entrance, you can use a door hinge finger protector. This is specially designed to prevent the finger from being trapped between the entrance hinges.
Sliding door
When the sliding door is opened or closed, the chances of finger and hand trapping between its leading edge and the closing jam increase. This is where a slide safe comes in! Slide safe works by maintaining a safe gap between the hinge sides and closing jam of the sliding door. Its sizes depend on the door’s depth. For example: If you have an aluminium sliding door, you should use ‘SP45.’ For PVC or timber with 73-110mm wide, you can use ‘SP50’ and for frames 120-150mm extensive use ‘SP55’.
Conventional framed doors
Conventional framed doors increase the risk of finger entrapment during their handle side when they are opened or closed. A slam stopper device is recommended for this type of door. This device works by locking or releasing itself to close the entrances slowly.
Hopefully, you have now understood why you should install door finger guards for your schools and which type of device will be best suited for your doors to prevent finger trapping injuries and thereby the financial losses.
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