While garage doors can serve as a valuable asset to any home, it is unfortunately responsible for thousands of injuries each year. According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, hospital emergency departments have to treat approximately 15,000 injuries that are related togarage door openers lake forest il. This is often due to negligence of safe practices. Your garage doors are the largest moving objects in your entire home, and you do not want to mess with it. Follow these tips to avoid being counted among those.
Watch Your Fingers
If you get your fingers caught in the seams of a garage door, you will be putting unimaginable stress and pain on your fingers that can require extreme medical intervention in severe cases. This is especially the case with children, who have a very playful nature. If you are a parent, you need to teach your children to keep their hands away from the joints in between panels when it is closing. Newer doors have specialized pinch protection to avoid these kinds of injuries, but it is better to not have your hands anywhere near them when it is closing.
Test Auto-Reverse
For any garage doors that were made after 1991, there must be a reversing mechanism available that will force a door change direction if there is something obstructing the path. In order to test this feature, you should open the door and place a roll of paper towels on its side. Push the button to close it and see if the door reverses direction as soon as it touches. You should call a garage door service if you do not see that it changes direction in reverse.
Check Safety Sensors
The sensors of garage doors are usually attached to the rails that a garage door rides. This is usually 6 inches off the ground, and their main priority is to reverse course if a person or animal is walking under a closing door. Therefore, you will want to test it adequately. You can do so by pushing the control button to close it. Right before the garage closes, place an object in front of the sensors. A professional should be called if the door isn’t reversed. Repairs or adjustments are likely needed in these situations.
Keep Passwords Secret
Just as how you wouldn’t give the passcode to your smartphone to any stranger, you should keep the password to your garage doors secret. Many companies have openers that allow you to set user-specific or one-time codes. This can prove to come in handy if you have packages to be delivered or family members visiting. You can provide them access without having to reveal the code on the opener’s key pad.
As you can see, safety with garage doors are very important and you should follow these tips to maintain security and keep loved ones safe. If you require professional services, you can visit K&B Door Co. for more information.
