Both the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) and the California legislature are considering new requirements to reduce rolling gate hazards. Proposed changes to §section 3324 Horizontal Sliding Gates (ca.gov) are championed by the Hummingbird Alliance, a non-profit organization founded by the parents of seven year old Alex Quanbeck who was killed at his Marin County school while closing a rolling gate. Furthermore, these safety requirements are supported by fence and rolling gate industry trade associations. Although Alex’s story is tragic, it is not an isolated incident. Many similar gate failures attributed to improper maintenance, design, and fabrication have occurred throughout the United States and resulted in serious injury or death.
Petition 605 was presented to the OSHSB by Board Member Joseph Alioto, which advocates new minimum safety requirements for all manual or automated gates more than 48 inches wide or 80 inches tall and includes the following: positive stops, covered wheels, and installed solutions that prevent the fence from falling more than 45 degrees from a vertical plane if detached from its supporting hardware. Similarly, California’s Assembly Bill 2149, introduced by Assembly member Damon Connolly, also known as Alex’s Law, prescribes safety regulations for any automatic vehicular gate, manual vehicular gate, or any gate that is greater than 48 inches wide or 84 inches tall.
Although Petition 605 and Assembly Bill 2149 remain under development, hazards associated with poorly designed, fabricated and maintained rolling gates are ongoing. The short YouTube video “Electric Sliding Gates – Safety Alert” produced by SafeWork of New South Wales (Australia’s equivalent to OSHA) provides valuable information and insight pertaining to rolling gate hazards.
PRISM will continue to monitor the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board and the California Legislature’s actions and keep members informed of regulatory and legislative changes. For questions about this blog or PRISM's monitoring of rolling gate law and regulations, please contact John Nichols at jnichols@prismrisk.gov or PRISM Risk Control.