The Door and Hardware Federation has published a new ‘Best Practice Guide’, which has been deemed an industry ‘must-read’.

Developed following detailed consultations with the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), and using simple terms, the document is entitled ‘management of maintenance, modification and repair of automated gates and traffic barriers, industrial doors, domestic garage doors’. The comprehensive, yet easy-to-read guide, is currently available to download from the dhf website www.dhfonline.org.uk

It is anticipated that maintenance contractors, owners, workplace managers, landlords, managing agents and facilities managers will benefit from dhf’s new publication, which offers a step-by-step guide to managing the maintenance, repair and modification process. The guide also includes an example of an ‘unsafe system warning notice’.

Concerns were initially expressed by dhf members that section 3 of the ‘health and safety at work act 1974’ requires that all maintenance work must result in a safe outcome. When owners refused safety upgrade work, maintainers were facing an impossible situation. The new publication identifies very accurately where the legal responsibilities lie and has been described as ‘one of the most significant documents since the introduction of the dhf Code of Practice TS 011:2016 last year’.

‘We are delighted to launch dhf’s new, simplified ‘Best Practice Guide’, which offers information on the processes and legal requirements pertinent to the maintenance, modification and repair process for these systems,’ says dhf’s marketing manager, Patricia Sowsbery-Stevens. ‘This guide is a concise and factual summary which we hope will lead to a better understanding of compliance – and ultimately – better standards across the industry. It also demonstrates dhf’s on-going commitment to driving those standards and the importance of regular maintenance.’