Garage Door Safety Month

June has been designated Garage Door Safety Month by the International Door Association (IDA) and the Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association (DASMA), and as a leader in the garage door industry, we consider our customer’s safety a top priority.

Safety is a concern with any product, and garage doors are no different. Since the garage door is typically the largest moving object in the home that family members open and shut on average 1500 times a year, it should have as many safety features as possible. Many of our products are designed specifically with safety in mind:

• Pinch-resistant garage doors feature a design that pushes fingers out of harm’s way should they accidentally be placed too close to door panel joints when the garage door is closing.
  
  
• Tamper-resistant bottom brackets on a garage door system are connected to the door’s springs which are under extreme tension. They reduce the risk of injury from garage door components by preventing the loosening of brackets by an untrained professional. Only a trained door professional should adjust any part of your garage door system.

Staying safe around a garage door may seem simple, but with thousands of garage door related injuries reported each year it’s important to know best practices in staying safe around garage doors. Here are some tips and tricks to make sure your garage door stays secure and you stay safe:

1. Never place fingers between door sections. Explain the dangers to children and consider pinch-resistant door panels.
   
   
2. Consult the owner’s manual and learn how to use the garage door’s emergency release feature.
   
   
3. Visually inspect the garage door each month. Squeaky springs? This can be caused by normal usage and does not necessarily indicate a problem. Before worrying, try a spray-on lubricant. If the problem persists, it’s time for service. Look at brackets, cables, rollers and pulleys for signs of wear. They can cause serious injury if loosened or removed. Do not attempt to remove, adjust or repair these parts or anything attached to them. These parts are under high tension and should only be fixed by a Garage Door Repair Professional. You can locate your closest Wayne Dalton dealer using our dealer locator.
   
   
4. If your garage door opener does not have rolling-code technology, be sure to change the manufacturer’s standard access codes on the opener and remote control, or consider investing in a newer model with rolling-code technology which changes the access codes each time the opener is used.
   
   
5. Test the garage door opener’s reversing mechanism monthly by placing a 2×4 board in the door’s path. If the door does not reverse after contacting the object, call a qualified garage door professional for repair. If the opener has not been replaced since 1993, replace the garage door opener with a new one that has safety beams and auto-reverse as a standard feature. Until 1993, garage door openers were not required to have the ability to reverse direction when they encountered an obstruction. Not reversing? It’s time to get a new opener to avoid a potentially dangerous situation.
   
   
6. Properly installed doors are safer than those improperly installed. You can access installation instructions to ensure proper installation. Find yourself in a bind? Don’t forget that our dealers are here to help.

Annual Garage Door Safety Checks:

Squeaky springs?