Every elevated walking and working surface within your facility needs to have a system of physical barriers, swing gates, and visual warnings around the perimeter. Without visual cues, your workers may accidentally walk too close to a dangerous edge or will need to maintain such a strong degree of continual vigilance that their work or attention to other potential hazards starts to suffer. Similarly, they need strong physical barriers that prevent trips and falls by bodily preventing them and giving workers a strong handhold. However, there is one weak point in every facility’s fall prevention strategy: transitions to elevated walkways.
The top of ladders and stairways are particularly hazardous for two reasons: they represent an abrupt elevation change, and your workers will continuously be moving up and down through these points. That increased frequency and the inherent fall danger means that it’s both incredibly important and difficult to create a permanent safety barrier. OSHA compliant gates pose a solution to both problems because they default to a strong closed position but facilitate safe crossing for workers in a hurry or carrying heavy loads. If you’re considering new OSHA gates for your facility’s indoor stairways, ladders, and raised platforms, read through this guide to select the right features and additional hardware solutions to minimize the risk of slips, falls, and OSHA violations.
6 Must-Have Features in Indoor Facility OSHA Swing Gates
Not all safety gates have the same features, characteristics, and designs. Some may fall short of OSHA guidelines, while others may be compliant but insufficient for other reasons. To find the right OSHA compliant gates for your needs, watch for options that have these six attributes:
1.) Adequate Strength for Heavy Equipment and Personnel
Safety gates need to be just as strong and sturdy as the surrounding guardrails, and that means being able to withstand minimum loads and force. To comply with OSHA guidelines, fall protection safety gates must be able to withstand 200 pounds of force against the top rail and 150 against the mid-rail. This can be trickier than it sounds, as gates are only permanently affixed on one side of the barrier. However, it’s essential for gates, as they are at locations where workers are most likely to need additional help catching their balance.
2.) Easy Installation
While it’s important to have safety solutions that comply with OSHA regulations and internal safety requirements, it’s just as important to consider convenience and project feasibility. Opt for safety gates that are easy to install and that are compatible with your pre-existing hardware and rail systems. For example, you can select gates that fit on all handrail sizes and styles, as well as safety gates that facility technicians can install with simple tools rather than specialty equipment.
3.) Clear Markings or Bright Colors
An important aspect of fall protection is visual warnings. While physically preventing slips, trips, and falls is essential in fall and injury mitigation, it’s far better to alert personnel to hazards before it reaches that point. Opt for safety gates that are brightly colored to match other safety systems or marked with colored tapes and patterns to warn personnel of danger.
4.) Barriers at the Right Height Points
OSHA has also established set heights for the midrails and top rails of swing gates. These height points are specifically chosen so people are very unlikely to trip over them and fall or stumble and fall under the top rail. For example, the top edge of rails and tangential safety gates should be 42 inches higher (give or take three inches) than the walking or working surface and have a mid-rail that is spaced at 19”-21” lower than the top-rail.
5.) Self-Closing Mechanisms That Help Maintain a Secure Perimeter
Self-closing gates have an in-built spring mechanism that keeps the OSHA swing gate pulled shut in its neutral position. To open the gate, workers must push against the spring-loaded gate from the right side or pull from the other side with sufficient force to neutralize the force of the spring.
After you buy commercial stair gates, simply install the OSHA swing gate so the push side is outward-facing—that is, so people exiting the stairs or ladder must push against the gate and those about to descend must pull open the gate. This means users must intentionally open the gate and that it does not stay open once they pass through.
6.) OSHA Compliance
These features capture many of the important details of gate compliance requirements, but there are additional safety considerations and compliance requirements to keep in mind. Before purchasing any fall protection solutions, it’s important to conduct a full audit of your existing systems and the new purchases so your facilities team knows that they uphold regulatory obligations. As you consider potential vendors, be careful of solutions promising that they’re “OSHA-approved”—OSHA sets guidelines and standards; it does not approve or endorse products.
Consider the Purpose and Placement of the OSHA Swing Gate to Select the Right Safety Solution
There are many different types of raised surfaces where gates make sense, such as:
- Stairs, especially on catwalks
- Ladders
- Steep ramps
- Mezzanines
- Loading docks
- Around hazardous machinery
Each of these areas will have different length requirements; a stairway, for instance, is narrower than a loading dock door. To make sure you’re implementing the right OSHA swing gate for your use case, review its dimensions to guarantee that it is long enough to cover unprotected gaps in the fall protection perimeter but not so long that it presents a danger to work areas while open. For example, rather than an extended gate in front of a wide passageway, your facility may need two gates that swing away from each other.
Additional Safety and Fall Protection Solutions to Build into Your Facilities
Deciding to buy commercial stair gates will play a key role in preventing falls around transitions in elevation. Build out the rest of your facility’s fall protection and perimeter systems with OSHA-compliant hardware such as:
- Modular guardrails that are permanently fixed barriers around open edges
- Fall protection harnesses that catch falling personnel to prevent injuries
- Visual barriers that, while they may not themselves be able to physically block a fall, warn personnel that a dangerous edge is nearby
Find the Right Swing Gates for Your Facility at Tractel
Fabenco by Tractel specializes in designing and developing three layers of fall protection solutions: visual systems, physical barriers like swing gates, and harnesses. Keep your facility and personnel safer with OSHA-compliant gates that fit around stairways, ladders, mezzanines, and more. Reach out today to see our options for OSHA compliant gates and to buy commercial stair gates online. You can also learn more about recent safety news and information.
