The Door and Hardware Federation has warned all door maintenance operatives to release the tension on all door balancing springs after a young worker was strangled when his hoodie was caught up while working on a sectional door.
The incident happened when 33-year-old Mark Mathers was working on the doors at a car showroom in Aberdeen, the city’s Sheriff Court a court heard last month before fining Patrick Forman Industrial Doors £165,000 for offences relating to the incident, for which the company had pleaded guilty.
Sheriff Christine McCrossan told the court that it is the ‘duty of every employer to ensure the health and safety of all its employees’, adding that ‘it is an offence to fail to discharge that duty’.
DHF senior training & compliance officer Nick Perkins later explained: “The court heard that Mr Mathers had been replacing a sectional door spring with a colleague when his hooded top got caught and wound around the spring, choking him. The work was being carried out while one of two springs was still under tension; the tension was inadvertently released and this resulted in fatal injuries.
“To avoid a repetition of such an incident, we strongly urge installation and maintenance companies that, in all circumstances, all of the tension on all of the springs must be removed carefully and methodically, using the correct specification properly fitting tensioning bars or other task specific tools and methodology as a first step before any further work is undertaken.
“Appropriate clothing, personal protective equipment, and safe access equipment are also vital to ensure the safe execution of door maintenance tasks. Companies are reminded that adequate risk assessment and creation of corresponding method statements (RAMS) are necessary for most tasks on site under management of health and safety law.”
Details of the Federation’s safety and legislation training can be found at:
