There are over 35 million homes in the U.S. with garage doors of different types.
Unfortunately, there is no current data available on garage door injuries. But this 2013 report says that over 30,000 injuries are caused every year which means that there is one accident in a block of 1170 garage doors each year.
The incidence of accidents is not that high but the fact that the majority of accidents report the involvement of children is worrisome.
Whatever be the injury statistics, as an owner of a garage door in your home you should evolve safety tips for the use of garage doors by family members.
This is all the more important when you have children and pets at home.
Here are 5 home garage door safety tips that you can follow.
- Children
Children must be exposed to the dangers of playing with the garage door. It is quite tempting for children to play with the remote when you are not watching over them.
Remember that the garage door is heavy and has several moving parts and functions that can cause injury to small children and pets.
The most often reported garage door accidents involve fingers or hands getting caught in a garage door. These can be avoided if you educate your children on the safe ways around the garage door.
One important step you must take is to keep the remote out of reach of children. You should train your pets not to go near the garage door.
The first safety tip is educating your children and training your pets on garage door safety.
- Periodic maintenance
Modern garage doors use new technology products that help to provide a variety of functions.
There are many moving parts that need periodic maintenance. It is advisable for you to check the garage door as often as possible to detect anything that is out of place.
In fact, you can make it a daily routine as you have to use the garage door to access your vehicle or other items stored there.
You should check for any frayed cables, foreign bodies sticking to tracks, bends on the tracks, rollers getting stuck, damaged rollers or damaged springs. You should ensure that AMC is implemented and the garage door company conducts periodic maintenance check up.
The second safety tip is to ensure periodic maintenance.
- Follow statutory safety standards
Your garage door must adhere to safety standards set by statutory authorities.
Your garage door company is required to ensure this. You need to see that all safety measures are taken. One of them is the reversing feature from 1993. This feature automatically reverses when someone comes in between the doors at the time of closing.
The third safety tip is to follow safety standards.
- Avoid DIY
The modern garage door is a piece of equipment that has the latest technologies incorporated into its mechanisms.
It is a combination of electro-mechanical and electronic parts including photo sensors and security pads. Sensitive components are used and if you are not competent you could damage them when you attempt to repair them yourself. Further, if you have a warranty, it could become void as unauthorized persons are prohibited from repairing the equipment.
The fourth safety tip is to desist from repairing in the DIY mode.
On the other hand you must make use of a professional garage door company such as A1Garage.com new garage door installation in Phoenix, AZ.
The Company would depute its trained expert to check out your garage door.
- Establish safety protocol
The garage door is perhaps the heaviest equipment in your home. As such you must establish a safety protocol for all members in your home. This protocol should include the DOs and DONTs while using the garage door. This is important because when different people use the common system mistakes can occur.
The fifth safety tip is to establish a protocol and ensure that everyone follows it.
These are just 5 tips that can be added to your other tips you may have received from elsewhere. Just remember to follow the safety tips and get everyone else in your home to do the same.
