In this conversation with Service Account Regional Manager, Melissa Sichting, we discuss safety concerns regarding automatic doors and the ways owners can keep users safe.
Talking About Door Safety
Automatic door safety should be a high priority for every owner and facilities manager, but many people may not even know where to begin. So we reached out to Service Account Regional Manager Melissa Sichting to find out what the potential safety concerns with automatic doors are, why maintenance is essential to prevent potential injuries or malfunctions, and how to make sure automatic doors are regularly inspected and potential issues are fixed.
When doors aren’t properly maintained there’s the potential to cause serious harm to people."
"Hi Melissa, thanks for talking with us today!"
"Thank you for thinking of me."
"Of course. How long have you been in the automatic door industry as a service professional?"
"Since 2002 – this is my 22nd year "
"Excellent! So, it’s safe to say that you know a lot about automatic doors and especially how important regular service can be to keep people safe."
"Absolutely."
"Then let me ask you: what are the potential safety concerns with automatic doors?"
"When doors aren’t properly maintained there’s the potential to cause serious harm to people. There have been many incidents over the years of people getting hurt because doors closed on them or didn’t open in time to avoid an injury and in all the cases I can think of, the issue wasn’t that the doors were somehow faulty. It was because they weren’t properly maintained. Sometimes the timing is not set to the correct automatic door safety requirements, or the auto door safety sensors are obstructed. Two things that regular service would spot quickly. "
You’re already there coming through the doors; you might as well take a moment to make sure everything is as it should be."
"Why is maintenance essential to preventing potential injuries or malfunctions with automatic doors?"
"Well, before that, the doors need to be properly installed. All of our installers are AAADM [American Association of Automatic Door Manufacturers] certified, which means that they received the proper training for installing these doors correctly –and they have to keep that certification every year. After that, automatic doors should be inspected daily using the guide we have on our website. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes. It’s really not much more of a hassle than putting on your seat belt; you’re already there coming through the doors; you might as well take a moment to make sure everything is as it should be. That leads to proper maintenance and service. Once you’re familiar with how your doors should be, you can spot repairs that need to be done or parts that are wearing out pretty quickly. It will save money in the long run as well as keep people from getting hurt."
"How do I make sure the automatic doors at my business are regularly inspected and any potential issues are fixed?"
"As I said, a daily inspection is recommended by the appropriate staff at your facility. But aside from that, an annual inspection by an AAADM certified technician should be a part of your yearly routine. Automatic doors are mechanical equipment like a car. If you don’t get the oil changed in your car regularly, it is going to break down. Automatic doors also need regular service. So, it’s a good idea to have that be a part of your cadence. But we get it: nobody thinks about their automatic doors as much as we do. So, to make it easy for people to get on that schedule, we found that a regular door service agreement not only keeps doors working properly and people safe, but it also answers that “How long has it been since someone’s looked at our doors?” question that people have."
"This has been great! Thanks for talking with us today!"
"Thank you! Always happy to help."
