Overhead doors pose safety hazards if not properly maintained and inspected regularly. They are heavy, operate in areas with pedestrian traffic, and can exert deadly force if closing improperly. Regular maintenance should include inspections, adjustments, and installation of safety devices to prevent entrapment. Failure to maintain overhead doors could lead to serious injuries from impacts or entrapment and may result in legal infractions.

1. Stay Safe Around Overhead Doors
Safety Moment of the Week
February 8th– February 14th, 2016
Overhead door systems are common both at the worksite as well as at
home and they are almost always overlooked as safety hazards.
This oversight can have catastrophic consequences as overhead doors are
heavy, hang high in the air, are dynamic, and often operate in building
openings where there is pedestrian traffic. Each year there are many “struck
by” and “crushing” incidents involving overhead doors that are avoidable.
Remember to perform regular overhead door maintenance and inspections.
Wherever possible, install recommended safety entrapment devices such
as photo eyes or sensing edges.
An improperly adjusted overhead door can exert deadly force when the
door closes. This could lead to serious injury or death from being hit by a
closing door or from being trapped under the door.
Poor overhead door maintenance can also lead to legislation infractions due
to a lack of entrapment devices, inadequately installed or adjusted doors,
and/or a lack of inspection and maintenance program.

2. Safety Moment of the Week
February 8th
– February 14th
, 2016
Stay Safe Around Overhead Doors
An overhead door is basically a moving wall that has great potential to injure and/or create damage to
property. An improperly installed or maintained overhead door system can exert tremendous force
when the door closes.
How They Work (Sectional Overhead Doors)
Sectional doors are constructed of door “sections”, usually 24“ high, which are stacked one on top of
the other, and fastened together with hinges. The door articulates as it opens and closes, with its path
guided by rollers that travel in steel tracks secured to the building.
Sectional doors utilize a simple counterbalance system where the weight of the door is offset by the
potential stored energy of a pre-wound torsion spring. The torsion spring helps rotate the torsion shaft
and drums, which in turn spool the lifting cables (also attached to the door’s bottom brackets) to lift
the door. The torsion assembly and related components are under extreme tension.
Some simple tips for overhead door safety:
•Never leave the door halfway open. An overhead door that’s left halfway open is a hazard and a
serious accident waiting to happen. The doors should always be either all the way down or all the
way up.
•Don’t stand under a moving door - don’t try to run under a closing rolling door before it closes as you
could very easily get seriously hurt.
•Keep your hands and fingers away from moving parts - as the door is opening or closing, keep your
hands away from any sections of the door or moving parts as you could get your fingers caught and
smashed.