Nowadays, most homes and businesses are equipped with a functioning garage door. In fact, garage doors are so common that we tend to take them for granted and forget just how dangerous they can be.
If you own a garage door, it’s important to understand that this door can weigh 400 pounds or more. And if the door comes crashing down, it can cause serious damage or injury. Fortunately, most new garage doors are safe and built with mechanisms that help prevent accidents.
If you want to help keep your friends, family, or associates safe from accidents, follow these tips:
1) Replace old garage door openers
Is your garage door opener made before 1993? If so, it doesn’t have an auto-reverse mechanism. This mechanism stops your garage door from closing if an object or person is underneath it. This is performed in two ways: the sensor and auto-reversal. The sensors are found at the base of the door and will prevent operation if there’s an object in the way or if something passes through while the door is being operated. The second function, the auto-reversal, will immediately reverse the garage door if it touches something during operation.
A good way to test this is to place a roll of paper towels underneath the door and try to close it. If the paper towels are crushed, then your door is not safe.
2) Emergency release
If there’s an emergency like a fire or electric outage, do you know how to operate the door without using the opener? There have been many tragic accidents where someone was trapped in a garage and unsure how to escape. If your garage door opener isn’t working, then you should carefully disengage the emergency release lever and raise the door manually.
3) Walking under the garage door
If your garage door is opening or closing, you should never walk under it. We know that sometimes you don’t want to wait for it finish operating but from a safety standpoint it’s dangerous to do this.
4) Don’t touch garage door parts
If you’re not familiar with the mechanics of your garage door, it’s best not to tamper with the parts. The interior of your door has many moving parts that could seriously injure you. One specific part you should exercise caution around are the springs.
Garage Door Safety Starts with You
Remember, teach your friends, family, employees, and anyone else who is near or uses your garage door these tips. It’ll help keep them safe and protect you from liability.