Garage doors are a common feature in many households today, providing critical access to the house and a convenient and accessible entryway. However, they are sometimes underestimated for their ability to cause injuries as they contain many heavy moving parts, some of which are under extremely high amounts of tension. Garage door accidents are a serious concern, but there are some basic safety tips you can follow that will reduce your risk to almost zero.
Like all mechanical machinery, garage doors should be inspected regularly to make sure they meet safety standards. Because they allow entry into your house, they can also become a potential point of entry for any home intruders, so it’s especially important to make sure that they are functioning properly. It’s important to make sure that you repair a garage door whenever it needs it, as this will help make sure that everything is functioning well and keep safety risks to a minimum.
Garage Door Safety Tips
Many of the people injured by garage doors are children. Always be sure to teach your children how to act appropriately around the garage door, and instruct them that it is not a toy and they should never play around it, including with the remote. With that in mind, let’s look at some of the most important safety tips to keep you and your family safe and healthy.
Check the reverse function
All garage doors installed after 1991 are required to have sensors that can detect an object in the path of the garage door and reverse it so it doesn’t close. This is a critical safety feature that can prevent most accidents from occuring, but it must be tested regularly.
To do so, place a durable object, such as wood or metal, underneath the door and try to close it. If your sensors don’t detect it and the door still closes on it, you have a serious safety issue and should not use the garage door until you have had it inspected.
Don’t forget to check the other components
Garage doors have several other components besides the sensors that must be regularly examined, including the pulleys, springs, cables, and rollers. It’s best to check out all these parts at least every 6 months to a year, and it’s recommended that a professional inspection is done at least once a year.
Know how to open it manually in an emergency
In case there’s a fire, power outage, or any other issue with the garage door, you’ll want to know how to open it manually. Your garage door will have an emergency manual release function, which will allow you to simply pull or push it open. If you don’t know how to do this, consult your owner’s manual or ask the professional conducting the inspection how to do it.
Keep your fingers clear and don’t try to get out while it’s closing
While these may seem obvious, many people are still injured due to not following these simple and preventable steps. Always remember that your garage door will not care whose fingers are in the way, and even messing around with the springs or other components can cause serious injuries. Teach your children to always give clearance to the garage door when it is closing, and to never attempt to run through and jump over the sensors before it closes.
Avoid break-ins
Garage doors are a vulnerability that many criminals try to exploit to gain entry into people’s houses. In fact, for a seasoned criminal with a garage door that isn’t fully secured, it can take as little as six seconds to break in. However, here are some simple steps you can take to make this more difficult for them, such as:
Always lock the inner door to your house along with closing the garage door.
Keep outside keypad codes secret and never share them with anybody.
Change the code regularly in case someone did gain access.
When you leave for a long time, consider unplugging or locking your garage door.
Don’t leave your openers where they are visible in your car.
Don’t leave your garage opener in the car when anyone else drives it, like a valet.
Never leave the garage door agape or slightly open.
Although these safety issues should always be considered, if they are followed regularly, your risk of injury or other issues with a garage door will be almost zero. Take precautions, stay up to date on maintenance, teach your children that the garage door and the openers are not toys, and make sure that it doesn’t become an easy entryway for intruders, and it is very unlikely you will have any issues.
Contacting a garage door professional is a key component, so don’t delay on that. If you need an inspection or have any questions, contact your local garage door company today, and they will be happy to help you.