Automatic gate safety: what a compliant install looks like
A powered gate is machinery. It can weigh several hundred kilos and it moves without anyone watching it. The safety requirements exist because people, usually children, have been seriously hurt by gates installed without them.
The hazards
Crushing between the leaf and a pier or wall, shearing at the hinge side, impact from a moving leaf, and being drawn into the mechanism. A sliding gate adds a drawing in hazard along the length of the track.
A proper installation identifies each hazard point at the specific entrance, then eliminates or protects it, rather than fitting a standard kit and hoping.
The protective measures
Photocells across the opening stop the gate if the beam is broken. Force limitation in the controller stops or reverses the leaf when it meets resistance. Safety edges, which are pressure sensitive strips, protect crushing points that photocells cannot cover. Physical guarding or increased clearances deal with shear points at hinges.
Warning signage and a clearly accessible manual release complete the picture.
Documentation and handover
A powered gate should be handed over with instructions, details of the safety devices fitted and a record of the force testing. The owner becomes responsible for keeping it maintained, and that is far easier with a proper handover pack.
If an installer cannot tell you what safety devices are included and why, that is the answer to whether to use them.
Existing gates
Older automated gates around Dublin frequently lack photocells or have had them disconnected because they were triggering. Disconnecting a safety device is never the fix; the correct answer is repositioning or replacing it.
We fabricate gates designed for automation from the start and coordinate installation so the safety devices are part of the design, not an accessory.
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Common questions
Need this done properly? Talk to the workshop.
Send us drawings, a sketch or a site photo. We come back with a fixed price and a firm lead time, usually within one working day.