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The Importance of Talking to Your Family About Garage Door Safety

11/27/2023
Two Fam House

We’re so used to having a garage door attached to our home that it’s become second nature when using it. I bet you hardly even think about it as you hit your garage door remote to open or close it. There’s no doubt about it – a garage door is an incredibly useful thing to have. But make no mistakes – it can be dangerous and unforgiving in an accident.

Think about when your parents told you not to stand near the stove or to keep your hands away from the pot of boiling water. Or the fire safety plan every family should have in case of emergencies. It’s things like this that instill good habits in our kids. If you have children, you’ve likely educated them on safety with things like buckling up in the car or not talking to strangers.

Here’s another thing you should include in your family safety talks: the garage door.

Healthy Habits to Keep Your Loved Ones Safe Around the Garage Door

If you have children in the house, you should set some clear expectations about the garage. While a child may consider the remote to a garage door a fun toy, it truly isn’t. Young children should be restricted from opening and closing the door on their own. Keep the remote somewhere away from their reach until they’re old enough to know better.

Regardless of who uses the door, make sure everyone understands never to stand under or near a door while it’s opening or closing. While it may be tempting to duck under the door if you’re impatient, this is ill-advised. If the door fails, it could crush the person underneath.

In addition, you should never walk away from the door until it has completely closed or opened. Many homeowners are in the habit of closing the door and driving away or entering their home while it’s still operating. If a small child or animal runs underneath, you would never know or be able to stop it in time. Always observe the door while it’s moving and be prepared to stop it at any time.

While garage doors do have a reversal mechanism, this should ONLY be considered a last-resort; not a feature that allows you to ignore safety risks. Not all garage doors have a perfectly-tuned reversal, and there are any number of things that can happen to stop the reverse mechanism from working at any given time, including the sensor eyes.

How to Talk to the Kids About Keeping Garage Door Safety in Mind

Here are some suggestions on making sure your garage door safety talk doesn’t fall on deaf ears:

  • Start young: Begin instilling garage door safety concepts as early as possible to build awareness and ingrain good habits.
  • Repeat the message: Regularly remind your children of the dangers and proper safety measures around the garage door to help them internalize these crucial rules.
  • Explain the dangers: Don’t just tell your children what not to do; explain why certain behaviors are dangerous and the potential consequences of their actions. This fosters understanding and encourages them to make smart decisions.
  • Encourage questions: Create a safe space for your children to ask questions and express any confusion or anxieties they may have about the garage door. Addressing their concerns openly can alleviate fears and make it more likely they’ll actually do what you advised.
  • Make it interesting: Use visual aids; make it into a game; do fun pop quizzes that end in ice cream. Kids of all ages respond well to multi-sensory learning, and interactive lessons will keep them better engaged.
  • Know your audience: Adapt your communication style based on the ages, personalities and understandings of your children, and ensure the rules you set forth are clear and concise. And remember, with kids, positive reinforcement is the most effective teaching mechanism.

Lastly, always have your garage door inspected and tuned up at least a couple times a year. This will help keep you and your family safe and also catch problems before they occur. Standard walk-through inspections are something you can learn to do yourself, and are a great way to get the kids involved and educated on how the garage door works.Safety is all about education! So get that household emergency safety plan back out and add a garage door policy to go over the next family meeting.

When Should You Call a Professional Garage Door Service?

When’s it time to call in a professional service to repair your garage door? The short answer is when you are in over your head. That being said, as a rule, if any part of the repair involves the cables or springs you should pretty much count yourself in over your head already unless you’re a professional. Cables and springs are under an incredible amount of tension and can be very dangerous to work with. They require special tools and professional expertise to repair safely. Some simple repairs you can research on the Internet and probably learn enough to get by. If you ever have any questions, give us a call. We’d be happy to help!

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