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C h e c k L i s t F o r D o o r S a f e t y
Doors
are important but they can also be
dangerous.
You can make doors safe.
Review the following checklist:
ALL DOORS IN YOUR FACILITY/HOME SHOULD
OPERATE SMOOTHLY. THEY SHOULD OPEN,
CLOSE AND LOCK WITH LITTLE EFFORT.
Some
things to look out for in order to
prevent door-related injuries are:
Ensure that the hinges are
firmly installed and that the door
is not "wobbly".
Ensure that any door closers are
correctly adjusted so that they
pause for long enough to allow anything in the latch (doorknob) area,
including hands, fingers and feet,
to be removed quickly prior to that final slam.
If the door is fitted with a
panic bar, the ends of which are so
close to the door jamb when the door is closed that it creates pinch hazards,
consider having the panic bar shortened or replaced, so as to remove the pinch
hazard.
If the door handle is of the
type that the door may be easily
opened by a young child, thereby allowing the child to leave the room unnoticed
by the care giver, you should consider replacing those handles or installing alarms,
such as travel alarms, to sound if the door is opened.
When fitting door hinge guards,
do ensure that they allow the door
to open to its fullest extent. (Remember that some doors open to 180 degrees and any
hinge guard that does not allow this is certain to pull away from the door,
leaving the finger-pinch hazard
still there! Try to avoid hinge guards that use glue as
the method of attachment. If the surfaces to which these are attached are not
properly prepared the hinge guards
can easily become detached. Also many glues cannot
stand up to the wide extremes of temperature that may be encountered in some
geographic areas.)
Both the opening hinge side and
the hinge pin side (where the hinges
protrude), must be protected. Injuries at the hinge pin side do not just
include amputations and pinching, but also head lacerations if the child should fall and
bang his or her head on the protruding hinges.
If there are glass doors, ensure
that (i) the glass is shatterproof or of the wired
glass variety; (ii) there is some warning on the glass to prevent
somebody walking straight into it, unaware that there is
plain glass in front of them. Use
vinyl window decoration or children's artwork.
IF YOUR FACILITY IS ALREADY FITTED
WITH
fingersafe®
DOOR HINGE GUARDS YOU SHOULD INSPECT
THEM PERIODICALLY TO CHECK FOR THE
FOLLOWING:
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MAKE
SURE THAT, ON THE MKlA's, THE
ACCORDION PIECES ARE FIRMLY SNAPPED
INTO THE FIXING STRIPS. IF THERE IS
HEAVY TRAFFIC THROUGH ANY PARTICULAR
DOOR, YOU MAY WISH TO CONSIDER
SCREWING THREE OR FOUR SCREWS
THROUGH THE FIXING STRIP AND
ACCORDION WHERE THEY MEET.
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MAKE
SURE THAT THEY ARE NOT DAMAGED. IF
THEY ARE, PLEASE CONTACT US FOR
REPLACEMENT PRICING.
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fingersafe®
can be cleaned with any standard
household cleaners.
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