10 UP FOR GATE SAFE CHARITY

The Gate Safe charity is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a recent survey of members indicating that business is booming.

Around 73% of respondents reported an increase in the automated gate aspect of their business which means that there is an ever increasing requirement to ensure the safety of the high number of gates being installed and maintained.

Founder Richard Jackson commented: “The Gate Safe Summit on 23rd September 2010 represented the first dedicated automated gate safety initiative. It featured a range of professionals representing a number of different industry sectors and safety organisations addressing the need to improve standards in automated gate safety.

“On the back of this, and with the Health & Safety Executive’s backing, Gate Safe went on to roll out the industry’s first specialist training course, designed for installers and anyone involved in the automated gate sector to deliver clear, practical guidance on how to ensure a safe and compliant automated gate / barrier.

“Gate Safe was the first to bring the issue of automated gate safety to Westminster, both via the petition to Downing Street in 2010 and subsequently via its ongoing Westminster Roundtable initiative.

“Gate Safe was also the first to launch a distance learning training version of its popular Gate Safe Aware course in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We maintain that whilst standards are improving due to an enhanced awareness of the potential dangers of an unsafe gate, both to gate users and also in terms of the likely serious charges that would be made against a company found to be guilty of falling foul of the safety guidance, there is still much to be done.

“Site surveys undertaken by Gate Safe still frequently reveal safety issues with automated gates, which the charity attributes to either ignorance, historic failings which precede the campaigning for safer gates or simply poor attention to detail.

“I’m immensely proud of the progress that Gate Safe has made over the last ten years but there is no room for complacency in relation to safety. We are hopeful that as the country begins to return to normal working practices, we can initiate the rollout of further plans designed to achieve our end goal of making gates safe.”

www.gate-safe.org