What you need to know and do.
Owners of electrically powered gates enjoy both the convenience and the added security of ownership. By installing or purchasing a property with electric gates comes a great deal of responsibility, one that is often over looked.

Why the industry has moved on
Two recent, separate, incidents that both led to the deaths of young children have highlighted a risk of using automatic vehicle access gates. (These incidents are in addition to an earlier fatality, which also involved a young child in 2006, and other recent near misses).
In both these cases, the children were trapped between the closing edge of the gate and the gate post at the end of the gates' travel. They were trapped because:
Their presence in the vicinity of the closing edge was not detected and The closing force of the gate when they obstructed it was not limited to the values specified in Annex A of BS EN 12453:2001.

What we do today
BS EN 12453:2001 recommends a minimum level of safeguarding against the crushing hazard at the closing edge of the gate, for those located in the vicinity of the general public.
In the case of those powered gates which have automatic control the advised level of safeguarding is to, limit forces according to Annex A of the Standard using force limitation devices or sensitive protective equipment and provide a means for the detection of the presence of a person or an obstacle standing on the floor at one side of the gate.
Alternatively, a means for detection of the presence a person, which is designed in a way that in no circumstances can that person be touched by the moving gate leaf, can be provided.

In a significant number of gate installations, the type of use may not have been taken into account during the design stage, with the consequence that the installations may not comply with the safeguarding measures recommended in the standard.

Designers and installers of electrically powered gates should ensure that the forces generated by a gate when meeting a person or an obstacle are limited and that they do not exceed the values specified in Annex A of BS EN 12453:2001. These forces should be measured and validated before the gate is put into use.

What to do to limit your liability
Ensure your gates have been designed and installed by an accredited company adhering to current and relevant standards and that the CE accreditation is visible and that all the checks have been documented in the gates technical file.
All new installations should have this, no exceptions.
Existing installations should be checked using the same methods and a technical file created.
Forces should then be periodically re-measured and checked as part of a planned preventative maintenance schedule. More details...

Arrangements should be in place to ensure that release keys and release instructions are readily available to all authorised users of the gate.

In addition to force limitation, additional safeguards, such as pressure sensitive strips on the closing edge and photoelectric sensing devices, should be fitted where the risk assessment identifies the gate as high risk, in that it is operating automatically in a public place where children and other members of the public may be present.

Persons or organisations in control of powered gates should periodically review their risk assessments to ensure that they identify any changes to the environment or operating conditions and that they have taken appropriate steps to address them.
This is particularly important when the responsibility for management of the gate passes from one person or organisation to another.
All safety devices and features should be checked on a regular basis and in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions to ensure they continue to function as designed to ensure that safety is maintained. This should be specified in a planned preventative maintenance schedule.

References:
BS EN 12453:2001: Industrial, commercial and garage doors and gates - Safety in use of power operated doors - Requirements.
BS EN 12445:2001: Industrial commercial and garage doors and gates. Safety in use of power operated doors. Test methods.
BS EN 12635:2002: Industrial, commercial and garage doors and gates - Installation and use
BS EN 12604:2000: Industrial, commercial and garage doors and gates - Mechanical Aspects. Requirements