Gate Safety Legislation

In June 2010 the tragic deaths of 2 young children in separate incidents less than 1 week apart only served to highlight the safety issues facing the UK gate automation industry. All automatic gate systems by LAW must be installed in compliance with the Machinery Directive MD2006/42/EC and supporting standards as highlighted by recent safety advisories from the Health & Safety Executive.

The HSE will be primarily responsible for any investigations carried out on gates where incidents have occurred and can prosecute installers or manufacturers accordingly. All Manufacturers and installers of automatic gate systems should take all necessary steps to meet compliance with the Machinery Directive to ensure their completed products are safe.

To aid manufacturers & installers in meeting the requirements for directive compliance, a harmonised product standard for gates was produced in 2003. The standard BS-EN13241-1:2003 provides an umbrella platform for creating a compliant gate product. The umbrella platform refers to supporting standards which contain information and requirements for various aspects of the gates performance & design. This guide is designed to provide installers with a summary of the key requirements of each supporting standard referred to by the product standard, and show how to apply appropriate solutions to meet each requirement.

For a full comprehensive guide to safety legislation and standards please visit www.dhfonline.org.uk 

EN12453 – Key Requirements

Defines areas of crushing, shearing & draw in on gates (see figures 1 & 2).

• Stipulates a maximum of 400N of crushing force allowed before gate must start to reverse in these areas (see figures 1 & 2). Areas outside of this are allowed up to 1400N.
• States the force exerted on contact must begin to reduce within 0.75 of a second to below 150N
• Requirement to reduce force & back off applies to both opening & closing operations of the gate system
• Defines that a danger area is considered to exist when a gap between the gate and a stationary object reduces to 500mm or below.
• Lists accepted technologies for providing this protection as torque limitation in drive units, laser light curtain devices & PSPE equipment (safety edges).
• Requires selected force limitation technology to protect danger areas of gate fully up to a height of 2.5 meters on both sliding and swing gates (see Figure 3)
• Requires that the gate must be equipped with an emergency release system (e.g. release key). Users must be trained in how to operate the system.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

EN12445 – Key Requirements

• Defines force testing requirement points on sliding and swing gates as the areas illustrated in the diagrams below, please note that the area designated for testing on swing gates when opening only exists when a gate opens within 500mm of a wall, fence or other object in the gates travel.
• Test points are horizontally 500mm, 300mm, 50mm from stop post (See figures 4-7).
• Vertically 300mmm from top of gate, 50mm from bottom & halfway between these points
• Each test point is measured 3 times
• The average value is then calculated from these results and submitted as a PASS or FAIL
• An EN12445 compliant force testing device must be used
• As part of any ongoing maintenance contracts, a gate should be force tested annually, or when any changes to the safety devices are made (e.g. altering torque settings in control panel or replacing a drive unit).

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Timeline of Legislation and Standards