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According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), garage doors and openers cause an estimated 30,000 injuries in the US each year. Several dozen deaths are related to garage door accidents each year, making it one of the most dangerous parts of your home – especially for children.
Fortunately, there are many safety precautions you can take to childproof your garage doors and reduce the risk of injuries or death.
“Childproofing your garage, including the garage door and components, is an important safety measure for your family.”
Test Garage Door Sensors
If you have a newer garage door, it should be equipped with safety sensors that have an auto-reverse feature that keeps the door from closing if something is in the way. You can test your safety sensors’ function by initiating the door closing and rolling a ball in its path. Ideally, it should be sensitive enough to pick up on this movement and reverse direction.
Install Garage Door Sensors
If you have a garage door made prior to 1993, you can upgrade it by adding photo-eye sensors. These safety sensors monitor the movement below the garage door. If an object or your child gets in the door’s path, it will stop closing and reverse immediately.
Keep Your Remotes and Wall Openers Out of Reach
A lot of things seem like toys to children, including garage door opener remotes. Children like to press buttons and may enjoy making the garage door open and close, which can be dangerous. They can get caught in the moving components or wander into the street. This is also bad for your garage door opener and may cause a malfunction.
The same is true for a wall mount garage door opener. Make sure it’s placed high enough that children can’t reach it, which is at least five feet off the floor.
Install Garage Door Locks
Garage door locks reinforce garage door sensors by preventing the door from opening. So, if your young children push the door opener buttons, it will stay closed no matter what. A childproof garage door button can be installed on the outside or the inside of the door, depending on the model of the door and your preferences.
Seal Door Panel Gaps
It’s easy for children to get their fingers stuck between door panel gaps, especially when they’re young. A simple and inexpensive solution is to have rubber seals professionally installed to remove access to the gaps.
Secure Dangerous Items Out of Reach
There’s a lot of dangerous equipment and materials that your child could access in the garage, including power tools, hand tools, cleaning supplies, and chemicals. Make sure these items are placed in a locked storage cabinet or on a high shelf out of reach.
You should also avoid storing chemicals in plastic milk jugs, juice containers, or leftover food containers, as children may mistake them for food. In addition, it’s not safe to store chemicals in different containers without labels listing safety precautions and instructions. 4
Perform Routine Garage Door Maintenance
While you may need to take extra steps to childproof your garage and garage door, there are a lot of safety features built into the design. However, these features won’t help much if you neglect your garage door’s maintenance.
Schedule routine maintenance to ensure that your garage door is working properly. This ensures that the garage door is moving safely along the tracks, the sensors are registering objects in the path, all the wiring is in good condition, and the components are in working order.
If your garage door is closing in an odd way, making a lot of noise, slipping off the tracks, or sticking during opening or closing, then you may need a repair to fix the problem.
Teach Children Garage Safety
It’s important to instill good habits in your children early on, including talking to them about garage door safety. Teach them to wait at a distance while the garage door is opening or closing. You should also discourage them from running around the garage or touching the items you store inside, such as power tools and chemical containers.
While nothing replaces supervising your children, taking steps to childproof your garage and teaching them proper safety and behavior around the potential hazards can go a long way to preventing potential injuries or accidental death.
Schedule Your Garage Door Repair or Replacement in Austin
Childproofing your garage, including the garage door and components, is an important safety measure for your family. If your garage door is in need of routine maintenance or repairs – or you want to upgrade to a newer door with built-in safety features and the best garage door openers, Austin’s Greater Garage Doors can help. Contact us today to schedule your appointment!
