Regardless of how straightforward industrial fall protection standards may initially seem, full regulatory compliance can be a bit of a balancing act. Budgetary, workflow, and safety needs depend on focused deliberation between safety managers, facility leads, and even the CFO or COO.
Getting all decision-makers on the same page is much easier by choosing the most adaptable and reliable safety equipment whenever possible. That’s why adjustable custom safety gates not only fulfill the lion’s share of facility-wide compliance standards, but also simplify the entire decision-making process.
Adaptability for Better Compliance
Consider the alternative: meeting each industrial fall protection scenario with inherently unique devices leads to constant deliberation, weighing heavily on business and facility operations. Further, all it takes is a slight alteration in workflow or compliance needs to render overly nuanced equipment obsolete – meaning it’s back to the drawing board every time.
The most adaptable facility safety gate, by contrast, easily accommodates the widest possible range of fall safety considerations:
- Number of levels at a facility
- How crowded each level becomes
- Effect of transition points on workflow
- Gate mounting requirements at each threshold
- How the gates interface with guardrails, walls, and other surrounding elements
- Proximity of stairs/ladders to machinery and other hazards
Think of it in terms of variables. An overly fine-tuned safety gate may lose utility if any of the above factors change. Such gates essentially become “locked in” to their original intended function – whereas an adjustable safety gate allows technicians to customize it as needed.
That’s even truer for facility safety gates that support quick, one-handed installation, and without compromising on reliability. Distractions of any kind easily increase the risk of accidents, and user-friendly safety gate designs help employees stay focused on their surroundings. Easy installation also reduces the need to bring heavy tools onto elevated platforms.
Staying Ahead of Regulatory Changes
Above all, an adjustable safety gate helps safety managers comply with a wider range of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other regulations. Even if your industrial fall protection plan seems perfect, it’s important to stay prepared for regulatory changes.
If it ever came down to it, a compliance auditor would be more likely to make an assessment closer to your favor if you’ve taken strides to mitigate the broadest range of fall hazards. A more sophisticated facility safety gate speaks well of your commitment to fall protection, compared to generic, bare-minimum alternatives.
Next, we’ll outline specific examples of how adjustable custom safety gates help fulfill a large array of regulatory standards.
Applications for Adjustable Safety Gates
> Full Coverage Gates for Falling Object Protection
Compared to most other industrial settings, interior facilities generally carry more risks of falling objects. Achieving greater space efficiency gives facility owners major incentives to maximize vertical space. Many facilities become a complex web of catwalks, mezzanines, ladders, and stairways.
It gives new meaning to OSHA 1910.28‘s “duty to have fall protection and falling object protection.“ OSHA 1910.28(c)(1), for example, requires “toe boards, screens, or guardrail systems” to “prevent objects from falling to a lower level” any time employees face a risk of falling objects.
While there are two alternatives, they’re far less reliable or compatible with the goal of space economy:
- Subsection (c)(2) allows for a network of canopy structures plus manual procedures for keeping potential falling objects well away from edges and openings
- Subsection (c)(3) involves simply barricading the area, rending it all but useless
Most safety managers opt for a series of toeboards running underneath their guardrail systems. Yet because toeboards create tripping hazards at openings (such as stair and ladder entryways), section 1910.28(b)(3)(iv) omits toeboard requirements at swing gate openings.
Yet a full coverage safety gate eliminates the need to compromise on falling object protection at access points. By combining swing gate and toeboard functions, full coverage self-closing gates always maintain continuous falling object protection, except during that brief moment when opened.
> A Wider Range of Mounting and Coverage Options
Changes in height aren’t the only fall protection challenges for self-closing swing gates. Variations in mounting position can also render standard safety gates incompatible with changing environments.
To cite just several such examples, adaptable mounting mechanisms come in handy whenever:
- Ladder or stair access points move to or from a wall or other area that lacks railing
- A change in guardrail type (e.g., angle bar, flat bar, or pipe)
- Left or right mounting options – with the ability to adjust which direction the gate opens
The latter consideration is very useful for fixed machines close to threshold entryways. By opening a universal-mount adjustable gate such that it blocks direct access to another hazard, the gate continues to protect workers from different safety hazards while open or closed.
It’s a good example of how a modular design philosophy ensures fall protection devices can adapt to systemic changes. This allows safety managers to freely choose new guardrails, for example, without replacing a non-universal safety gate.
With a positive stop mechanism at the hinge side, an adjacent guardrail isn’t even necessary; the swing gate can automatically stop itself at the default position. Further, an adjustable safety gate often provides a window of adjustment to close lateral gaps between the gate and adjacent barrier.
It’s not uncommon for adjustable swing gates to fit openings between 16 and 39.5 in. (40.6 and 100 cm, respectively). Fully custom safety gates can even provide coverage for openings up to 60 in. (152 cm).
> Multiuse Swing Gates for Facility Repairs and Expansions
While facilities are almost always controlled by general industry standards, as soon as facility improvements begin, a host of OSHA construction standards kick in. Of course, you must always look closely at your OSHA, CCOHS, or local regulations to determine precisely which regulations apply and when.
In any case, facility construction presents yet another use for universal-mount swing gates. If, for example, a particular facility safety gate is off limits during construction, technicians can remove and apply it to a new value-adding location within minutes.
> Ground-Level Access Control
Elevated platforms aren’t the only use for custom safety gates. They’re equally effective at controlling access at ground level. This is often necessary to prevent unauthorized access to areas designated for:
- Hoisting operations
- Industrial vehicles
- Machine guarding, but while maintaining easy access for maintenance techs
In such cases, it’s common for access control needs to overlap with signage requirements. An extended coverage swing gate can provide a larger area to mount important warning signs. Its larger size itself acts as a more obvious visual queue – especially if it’s distinct from the other gates in the facility, such as through custom colors with non-toxic powder coating.
> Fully Adaptable Custom Swing Gates: An Easy and Far-Reaching Decision
Industrial fall protection inside almost any facility depends on reliable and adaptable safety gates. By meeting the widest range of regulatory standards with each piece of equipment, staff across every level enjoy greater flow, free of excessive deliberation.
Fabenco has been leading the fall protection industry with advanced safety gates for over 45 years. Our stock products are known for their dependability and adaptability alike. We’re also capable of creating fully custom safety gates, including for special use cases (such as environments with sensitive radio frequencies).
To learn more about our adjustable safety gate products, contact us, and tell our experienced safety specialists about your industrial facility’s fall protection needs.
