Gate Safe has joined forces with other key stakeholder organisations to establish a working party designed to improve the safety of automated and manual gates in schools.

As part of the charity’s Safe School Gates initiative, Gate Safe recently held a meeting hosted by Ashford MP Sojan Joseph attended by representatives from the police security initiative, the insurance sector, the UK’s leading accident prevention charity and specialists in educational compliance management, to discuss the growing importance of gate safety in the school environment.

Gate Safe shared recent concerning survey findings* which indicated that the majority of gates surveyed represent a clear danger to pupils, staff and visitors. If the survey is representative of gates across the UK, with circa 32,423 schools (including nurseries, early learning centres, primary schools and special schools), this would indicate that there are over 28,000 unsafe gates currently in operation.

The meeting debated the collective need to raise awareness of the risks associated with an automated and / or manual gate – and the role that schools can play in ensuring the safety of these – in the case of automated gates – machines.

All those attending the meeting agreed to join the working party, with a view to organising a future Westminster roundtable which would invite additional stakeholders to consider a programme of activity designed to initiate change – and to prevent any further accidents occurring.

Richard Jackson OBE commented, “We are delighted to have gained the support of the delegates that attended last week’s meeting and to receive such positive feedback in terms of the potential ways we can work together to improve the safety of gates in the school environment. We look forward to sharing further details of the action that has been taken in the coming months.”

*Survey findings included: 87% of the swing gates surveyed (sample of 87) failed to meet guidance on the need for three hinges, with only 9% fitted with a robust fall arrest tether to prevent the gate from falling. Over half the gates surveyed only featured one pair of photocells. Just under a quarter had either no safety edges or only one safety edge fitted.