Is your gate safe?

It’s likely one of the largest moving pieces of equipment on your property, and it’s often used multiple times a day. 

Whether you consciously think about it often or not (most of us don’t until it’s not working properly), your gate serves an important access security role for your home, so it’s equally as important to ensure it’s safe to use – both for you and for your community. 

Tragically, accidents do happen. A first grade boy was killed in 2019 while on his school’s playground in San Rafael when a 400 pound slide gate came off its track, crushing him after he tried to close it to keep the ball he and his friends were playing with from escaping. 

The goal is to prevent incidents like that from ever happening, so how do you make a gate safe?  

The short answer is we adhere to recommendations by two third-party testing laboratory companies when designing and repairing automatic gate systems. These two recommendations, UL 325 and ASTM R2200, form the blueprint of requirements to help prevent accidents. 

These standards include requiring:

• A separate entry and exit for pedestrian traffic with only the automated gate being used for vehicle traffic.

• Posted signage to warn pedestrians to stay clear of the gate.

• Mounted access control devices be at least 6 feet beyond the gate.

• Gaps between any vertical bars be less than 2.25 inches apart (otherwise a mesh must be added).

• Horizontal slide gates are guarded (usually by adding mesh) from the gate’s bottom to at least 6 feet high. The goal is to prevent a 2.25 inch diameter sphere from passing through openings in the gate and the portion of the gate that’s covered when it’s in the open position. 

• Smooth bottom edges for any gate.

• At least two entrapment protection devices in each direction.

• Support hardware to prevent the gate from falling over if disconnected.

Adhering to UL 325 & ASTM R2200 recommendations not only makes your automatic gate system more safe, it reduces your liability as a property owner if injury or damage were to occur.

At every job – not just installs – we will strongly recommend different options to ensure your gate system is safe and adhering to industry safety standards, including attaching safety signs on any automatic gates.