Protect Your Fleet: Follow These 5 Garage Door Safety Guidelines

1. Protect Your Fleet: Follow These 5 Garage Door Safety Guidelines Your commercial or industrial garage door is an integral part of your business. It keeps your vehicles housed safely even during non-business hours, and it gives you the proper space to conduct vehicle maintenance, as well. However, part of using garage doors involves understanding the following five safety tips and implementing them as guidelines throughout your place of business. #1 – Have Commercial Doors Serviced Regularly The number one thing you can do to promote commercial garage door safety involves having your garage doors inspected and serviced at least once a year. This alone can prevent many of the mechanical and electronic failures that may lead to serious injury. There is no one time of year to have this maintenance carried out, though the winter climate can make it tough. Spring, summer, and fall are the best options. #2 –Always Operate the Door per Manufacturer’s Instructions It is also crucial that both you and your employees understand the manufacturer’s instructions for operating the door – and that you follow them. Make sure the doors are not operated without the proper equipment or lighting, and make sure your employees know they should never attempt to force a door open or closed if it does not move right away. Finally, keep the number of a qualified repair team nearby so that in the event of a malfunction, you can get someone to repair it right away. #3 – Encourage Employee Awareness Employees should know to never attempt to operate commercial or industrial garage doors while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, without the proper supervision, and without following the safety protocol you set forth. Many places of business have very strict guidelines in place for the use of garage doors, so be sure to review these and implement your own. It could very well save lives. #4 – Avoid Impacts Impacts occur when an industrial or commercial door malfunctions and falls shut. This is incredibly unlikely, especially for doors that have been properly operated and maintained per the manufacturer’s directions, but there is still always that possibility. To prevent impacts, never use garage doors as a standard entrance or exit and encourage your employees to remain on high alert when these doors are in the open position. Finally, make sure the doors remain closed if there is no vehicle exiting or arriving. #5 – Have Emergency Plans in Place Everyone who works near the garage door should understand the risks, but accidents can still happen. You should always have an emergency plan in place. This includes keeping a first aid kit nearby and having a list of numbers to call in the event of a problem. Though serious issues with garage doors are very rare, it is better to think ahead and have a plan in the event that the worst should happen. Of course, the best safety tip of all is to make sure you have your commercial garage door maintained regularly. These inspections will ensure everything is working as it should and allow a garage door technician the opportunity to replace or repair any issues long before they can pose a serious problem.