Electric Gate Safety

Before you buy…  

Please remember that automatic and electric gates are potentially dangerous.  

Sadly there have been several cases of people being trapped and injured or killed by incorrectly installed gates. Children are at particular risk.  

Automatic gates should ONLY be installed by qualified engineers trained to fit gates that comply with current legislation. All electric and automatic gates in a non-domestic setting must have an annual safety inspection and for commercial and multi-residential properties the inspection should be every 6 months.  

Windlesham Gates has Trading Standards’ Buy with Confidence approval. Our engineers are qualified and have many years of experience.  

When selecting a gate installer, look for a company, like Windlesham Gates, that has been approved by your local authority’s trading standards department and is recognised by trade bodies such as the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS) and Safecontractor.  

At Windlesham Gates, we're proud to say that our staff are up-to-date with all current legislation and qualifications. But we don't stop there - we invest in our engineers, giving them the training and education they need to ensure that we work to the highest possible safety standards. We want you to have peace of mind.  

We are also a member of the Powered Gate Group of the Door & Hardware Federation. Windlesham Gates adheres to the federation’s high standards so you can be sure that all our installations are of the highest quality and meet stringent safety standards.

Safety equipment

Here are the safety elements your contractor must be able to provide:

Safety edges (or rib edges) guard against crushing and shearing – they are used on swing gates and barriers, causing them to stop and reverse if an obstacle is detected.  

To comply with health and safety legislation, all automatic gates must be installed with safety edges to ensure that they release quickly and easily in an emergency.

Gates that close with too much force can be dangerous, and their motors will wear out more quickly. All Windlesham Gate installations are calibrated and set to ensure that the force exerted by the gate’s motors is sufficient to close the gate and no greater.

Most new automatic gate installations use photocells. These are set opposite to each other, on either side of your driveway. An infra-red beam is sent from the transmitter photocell to the receiver photocell, and if the beam is broken by an obstacle the gate stops closing.

An induction loop is used to open and close gates, but also works in much the same way as a photocell, stopping the gate from closing if the drive is obstructed.  

For further information view the DHF Guide to gate safety legislation and standards.