This is what happens when you bypass safety devices

[Andy™]

woman killed in a shutter a few years ago. inquest today. it would appear as though there was safety devices fitted  (what she done was a forseeable risk), but they were disabled / incorrectly set up. i wouldnt like to be the person responsible for doing that...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6303203/Mother-40-crushed-death-faulty-automatic-garage-doors.html

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2018/10/23/sensors-did-not-stop-car-park-shutter-crushing-woman-to-death-inquest-concludes/

 

[Evans Electric]

It sounds horrific .     Not sure what type of doors let you  hang on   TBH  .

I'm thinking about the industrial  roller doors ...in my experience they don't have any safety devices on them ,  but you can't hang onto them .      

I noted the change from the earlier ones where you could  hit the down button and walk away ...door comes down on it's own .     Down buttons don't latch  anymore. 

Working at a presswork place years ago ,  they pressed jobs like the throttle foot pedal for the Mini s ,  the rod bent to shape and the pad your fool rests on ....anyway they wanted to run a job with the guard open , asked me to bridge the limit switches ....I refused ....luckily I told our supervisor who dropped some gear off ....as  about a month later when we were long gone , an operator lost a finger and it was the old story ...lets blame the contractors.    Our boss asked if I'd done  it  , I said no and that I'd told the supervisor who backed me up  . 

 

[Andy™]

open grill Deke. you can easily stick your hand / arm through them. this type of shutter requires photocell / other detection at the top to detect anyone stupid enough to hang onto them

there not usually much risk on shutters going up which is why you can have them self hold open without any safety, except for shutters like above. going down they need photocells & safety edges or deadman

 

[Evans Electric]

Thanks  mate ,  I know what you mean now ,   I suppose basically to  let some light through  the slats  but offers the chance of someone hanging on .  

 

[Badger]

And this is why I don't do automatic doors or gates and stay well away when a auto gate or door is opening near me I wouldn't trust them tbh 

 

[Andy™]

An electrical company has been fined after a woman was fatally crushed by a roller shutter door.

Peterborough Magistrates’ Court heard how on 14 August 2016 Heidi Chalkley pressed the button to open the roller-shutter door at Ruth Bagnall Court, Cambridge. She then held onto the grille as it raised and became trapped as it wound around the roller, fatally crushing her body.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the sensors at the top of the door were incorrectly wired and no longer functioned as the door opened.

B.S. Graves (Electrical) Limited had carried out work on the roller shutter door since 2012, including an inspection only a month before the incident. The company did not check the operation of the safety sensors and failed to identify the fault.

B.S. Graves (Electrical) Limited of Rushmere Close, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,500.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Graeme Warden commented: “This tragic and distressing incident has had an untold impact on all those who knew Heidi. It could have been avoided if the company had ensured employees were suitably trained to inspect the doors and the functioning of the safety sensors.”

they got off lightly.... only a fine of £25,000

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-48600413

 

[Sharpend]

Whilst I agree the electrical company breached safety rules, but really what ***** hangs onto a roller shutter? And I note she’s a Social worker, can you imagine the advice she has dished out. She got all that she deserved, stupid is as stupid does. 

 

[Andy™]

Whilst I agree the electrical company breached safety rules, but really what ***** hangs onto a roller shutter? And I note she’s a Social worker, can you imagine the advice she has dished out. She got all that she deserved, stupid is as stupid does. 

common problem actually. more so kids. but since most other shutters are done correctly and safety does its thing, no one is killed, you dont hear about it...

its a machine with a foreseeable risk, it should be adequatly protected. which it was, but wired wrong / bypassed. person(s) doing the maintenance were also incompetent and failed to notice it not working correctly

personally, i hate that design. perforated lath and you still get ventillation / light but nothing to hold onto. risk gone simply by better design

 

[Sharpend]

I understand fully where you are coming from and if it had been an immature adolescent then that’s the sort of idiotic behaviour they get up too, but a 40yr old social worker???

 

[Andy™]

I understand fully where you are coming from and if it had been an immature adolescent then that’s the sort of idiotic behaviour they get up too, but a 40yr old social worker???

where do i get these safety sensors that will detect between someone who doesnt understand the risk and stops or them, and someone who should know better and lets it carry on?

she should have known better, but the fact still remains that her death was caused by poor design / maintenance of the shutter

 

[Sharpend]

I quite agree with you Andy, but can’t help think that nowadays we expect everything to be designed safe which takes away our need to be responsible. There will always be accidents regardless of how safe something is designed, but if it was well known that this thing is dangerous then perhaps people would think before they act. We’ve become over the top in our effort to protect everyone from everything. It’s a no wonder that some people believe they’re invincible. 

 

[rapparee]

I understand fully where you are coming from and if it had been an immature adolescent then that’s the sort of idiotic behaviour they get up too, but a 40yr old social worker???

Just some hijinx, she was with her mate and was in good spirits ready to head out for a night.

I wouldn't blame her.

 

[Doc Hudson]

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the sensors at the top of the door were incorrectly wired and no longer functioned as the door opened.

B.S. Graves (Electrical) Limited had carried out work on the roller shutter door since 2012, including an inspection only a month before the incident. The company did not check the operation of the safety sensors and failed to identify the fault.

B.S. Graves (Electrical) Limited of Rushmere Close, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,500.

As I see it the facts are:

1/ She was an unskilled/untrained/person, who did somthing a totally stupid and well below what should have been expected from someone of her age and education. But there are thousands, if not millions, of equivalently educated and mature people who regularly do similar daft actions when out with their friends, that could also pose risk of serious injury or death, but maybe by fluke, or good fortune, live to tell the tail.

2/ The company should have used qualified, competent  persons, with sufficient knowledge and experience to both undertake any necessary work AND ***** all possible risks and dangers to any untrained persons who could be expected to be within the vicinity of the door when it operates. If they do not perform all checks and tests that would be considered reasonably practical for this type of automatic door system, then their negligence overrules any stupid actions carried out by untrained and unskilled persons who for whatever reason decide to do something daft.   

As Andy says they got off lightly considering some poor sole has lost their life, due to a company who have been earning money since 2012 for doing work on this door, but failed to identify a possible risk!  Sounds like the checks were:- Does it operate "yes": Will it fail safe "No idea, didn't check"!  Any ***** can make something work, ensuring it fails-safe is where the competence, experience, qualification, skill, etc, come into the design process.

Doc H. 

 

[Sidewinder]

This Doc, is the problem with people that don’t understand machinery safety systems messing around with them.

It's not just simple functional checks that are required for machinery.