Tamworth-based trade association, the Door & Hardware Federation (DHF), has urged extreme caution following an incident involving an elderly woman whose clothes became caught in a moving roller door shutter resulting in her being lifted several feet into the air.
71-year-old store cleaner, Anne Hughes’s coat became lodged in the rising shutter outside the Best One off-licence in Pontypridd, South Wales, on Monday. And despite being quickly rescued by store manager, Amed Akram, 44, Ms Hughes was left dangling upside down in an incident that DHF has described as a shocking and unacceptable ‘near-miss-fatality’. In addition, a video of the incident, currently being circulated on several social media platforms, has resulted in a reaction of laughter as opposed to concern. In an article in yesterday’s Mirror, New Reporter Susie Beever states:
“A woman's embarrassing faux pas with some window shutters has left people in hysterics after the hilarious moment was caught on CCTV.”
“This incident is far from amusing and could very easily have resulted in tragedy had Anne’s coat fabric failed and she fell onto her head ,” explains DHF’s Training and Compliance Officer, Nick Perkins. “The two glaring issues are that there is a hooking hazard on the door on which Ms Hughes became caught. Additionally, the door was opening automatically and according to the now 24-year-old standard for roller shutter doors, either the hooking hazard should have been removed, or the door should have been operated from a ‘hold-to-run control’ that would only function within sight of the door, or the door should have been torque limited so that it could not lift more than 20kg.
“There should not have been any hooking hazards on a shutter that would act in this way and questions should be raised as to why the shutter drive (motor) was so overpowered to be able to lift a person as well as the weight of the shutter? We cannot emphasise enough the seriousness of this situation, and we urge owners and managers, who have a responsibility to all users particularly when on property that is used, accessed or open to the public, to ensure that they are adhering to the legal requirements for these products.”
The law relating to placing roller shutter doors on the market in the UK can be referenced here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/1597/contents/made https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/1387/introduction/made
Similarly, the law affecting the operation of, the owning and/or managing of roller shutter doors in the UK can be refenced here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/3004/contents/made https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37/contents
“EN 12453 has been published by BSI in the UK since 2001 and describes in detail the safety measures that must be implemented when a roller shutter door is placed on the market and hence should be in place for a door in service,” concludes Nick. “Further DHF guidance for owners and managers can be found in publication, DHF TS 013-3.”
DHF publication DHF TS 013-3 can be downloaded free of charge from the DHF website https://bit.ly/DHFTechnicalSpecifications
March 2024
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