Gate Safe, which campaigns for improved standards in automated gate safety, has revealed research findings that highlight the most commonly found errors responsible for creating an intrinsically unsafe swing gate.

Following surveys on 49 gates, Gate Safe focused design errors which, it claims, will play a part in compromising gate safety, potentially leading to serious accidents.

Of the 49 swing gates that were reviewed, 92% featured reducing or unprotected gaps at the gate supports. Just under 80% of gates reviewed failed to display the adequate number of hinges, while 75% had photocells which had been incorrectly programmed so were failing to inhibit the initial opening of the gate.

Other design concerns included application of photocells only to one side of the gate or photocells fitted incorrectly in terms of not being close enough to the gate or the area requiring protection (57%), no horizontal edges on the outside of the gate (55%) and edges being programmed incorrectly (51%).

Gate Safe founder Richard Jackson said: “What is particularly alarming about these findings is that they represent only a very small sample of the gate landscape in the UK but if these trends are replicated across the country, then as previously suggested, the majority of gates that are in use are unsafe as a result of poor design.”

The Gate Safety by Design programme implemented in autumn of last features activity intended to attract the interest of the wide range of professionals associated with automated gate installations or maintenance. See a dedicated page on the website providing useful information and guidance on specific issues relating to designing a gate with safety in mind, www.gate-safe.org/gate-safety-by-design.