About
The British/European standards BS EN12453:2017, replace a number of older standards from 2000 and 2001. These newly revised standards aim to reduce the risk that may be present for automated gates and doors. They especially focus on the safety of parts of the control system and maintaining requirements for basic strength, stability and testing, including where force limitation is the primary means of delivering safety.
The requirement for force limitation is not to exceed the existing force limits (400 N for crushing and 1400 N for impact).
The HSE’s key target audience BS EN 12453 standards:
Architects/specifiers, designers, manufacturers, suppliers, and installers of powered doors, gates and barriers primarily for vehicular use, and those responsible for servicing and maintaining these products in workplaces, car parks and the common areas of shared premises, including residential.
Key Actions for Installers, Manufacturers, Duty Holders, Persons Responsible for Automatic Gate/Door Management
All designers and installers of electrically powered gates should ensure that the forces generated by a gate when meeting a person or an obstacle are limited and that they do not exceed the values specified above.
These forces should be measured in accordance with BS EN 12445:2017. “Industrial commercial and garage doors and gates. Safety in the use of power-operated doors. Test methods” and the performance of the system validated before the gate is put into use.
Forces should be periodically re-measured and checked as part of the planned preventative maintenance schedule for the gates.
In addition to force limitation, additional safeguards, such as pressure-sensitive strips on the closing edge and photoelectric sensing devices, should be fitted where the risk assessment identifies the gate as high risk, in that it is operating automatically in a public place where children and other members of the public may be present
Persons or organisations in control of powered gates should periodically review their risk assessments to ensure that they identify any changes to the environment or operating conditions and that they have taken appropriate steps to address them. This is particularly important when the responsibility for the management of the gate passes from one person or organisation to another.
Other hazards associated with the opening and closing of the gate should also be addressed – these will include crushing, shearing, impact and drawing-in hazards. Examples of other hazard points are described in BS EN 12453: 2017 and include: the opening edge; gaps in the gate where they pass fixed structures; and the drive mechanism. (Note: force limitation on its own is also unlikely to be sufficient for these hazards).
All safety devices and features should be checked on a regular basis and in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure they continue to function as designed to ensure that safety is maintained. This should be specified in a planned preventative maintenance schedule agreed by persons responsible for the gate’s management and their appointed maintenance company.
[Read more information about devices and measurements].
Further information
Please contact our Calibration Team on 01642 626 144 for more information about force equipment calibration.
Alternatively, if you would like to purchase force gauges for this particular application, visit our sister site. [add link to the Microtronics Force Gauge here]
Sources
The information from the page was gathered using the following sources: