Door accident leads to manslaughter charge

The safety of industrial doors has been put under the spotlight following a court hearing where a man was charged with two counts of manslaughter by gross negligence. The charges followed the death of two people who were struck by a large loading bay door at a Guildford theatre.

The company that manufactured the door in the incident in 2013 has been summonsed for breaches of duty imposed by Section 6 of the Health & Safety at Work Act. The company is accused of failing to ensure that equipment supplied for use at work was safe.

The Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) works tirelessly with its members to prevent this kind of thing from happening. It represents Britain’s leading manufacturers and installers of industrial doors and is committed to raising standards of safety, technical excellence and legal compliance in the UK industrial door industry.

It promotes best practice in design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of industrial doors and offers advice to its members on how to ensure all products and services they supply comply with health and safety legislation.

DHF has announced that it is launching a DHF Safety Assured Industrial Door Diploma training course. The two-day comprehensive course will cover all aspects of industrial door safety and is being piloted in November with the intention of being rolled out January 2016. DHF has made attendance at the course compulsory for members. The development of this training course is the latest stage in an ambitious plan by the DHF to further raise the standards of its members’ products and services to new levels.

Bob Perry, DHF CEO, stated:

“These are significant times for the DHF as we invest more into training delivery to all of our members. This course adds another dimension to our portfolio and complements our existing Powered Gate and Garage Door Diploma training courses.”

Said Michael Skelding, DHF general manager and secretary:

“Industrial doors are a common sight in public areas and workplaces. Powered industrial doors are machines and like all machinery, they present potential hazards if they are not manufactured, installed and maintained to the required standard. The consequences of supplying or specifying doors that do not comply with health and safety regulations can be severe.

“We strongly urge all those responsible for industrial doors to have them checked by a specialist who can identify any risks to safety posed by the door and make them safe.”

[su_button url=”http://www.dhfonline.org.uk/home.aspx” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#df2027″ color=”#ffffff” size=”10″ radius=”0″ icon=”icon: arrow-circle-right”]Click here to find out more about DHF[/su_button]