Whether it’s a residential garage door, a huge dock door for a department store, or a roll-up door for a mall retail store, one thing is for sure: Without proper maintenance and repairs, overhead doors can literally be traps. mortals. With reports peppering the nation about injuries from faulty sensors or outdated garage doors snagging on feet, children, and pets, a poor garage door is a huge liability. However, the actual injury statistics may surprise you.
According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance Survey (NEISS), the most common type of garage door injuries are “pinch / crush section joints,” which occur to about 7,550 Americans each year. This includes “fingers caught between the joints of the sections, (e) includes amputations, avulsions, etc.” It’s no wonder this is the most common, but what’s amazing is how serious these injuries can be. All it takes is a few missed maintenance inspections or a bad spring to sue your family or business.
“Crushing” reports
The second most common injury occurs from “falling doors,” and more than 2,100 Americans are victims of it each year. According to NEISS, this happens when a “door falls down for whatever reason” and includes reasons like poor installation, outdated and maintenance-free doors, or any number of other things. However, a quality garage door with a solid installation will not fall “for no reason”, which is why it is paramount to demand first-class doors and installations.
“Sharp edges” account for more than 800 injuries each year, defined by NEISS as “lacerations from garage door window glass.” Today’s garage doors, when they have glass, are shock resistant. If they break, which is rare, it is similar to when a car window breaks. The result is sticky and messy, but there are no sharp edges. Unfortunately, that is not true for older overhead doors.
Completing the major offenses
Nearly 200 Americans experience “other traps” each year. “Half of these were fingers caught between rollers and tracks” according to the investigation, and could also fall into the category of pinching / crushing. Tracks and rollers are some of the most common parts that need maintenance, but it’s always best to have a professional handle them.
“Race to beat the door” causes about 135 injuries each year in the US “People trying to get through the opening before the door closes” is a dangerous game, but fruitless if you have a good overhead door with sensors. When this is the case, the sensor will prevent the door from closing (and perhaps reopening) when movement is detected.
Playing it safe
Finally, “going through the door” can (unsurprisingly) cause about 90 injuries per year in the US This should be avoided with a little common sense, but of course that’s something kids and teens do. teenagers don’t have it in abundance. However, an overhead door that is up-to-date and undergoes regular inspections. should being able to bear the weight of a child, of course, that should never be put to the test.
The vast majority of these injuries can be avoided with common sense, maintenance, and upgrades. Doing away with these three is a gamble that no business owner, owner, or owner should take, as the house (or in this case the garage door) always wins.
