Operable Wall and Gym Door Safety

Motorized operable walls that can extend and fold up automatically are a great way to temporarily divide a large space for multiple uses. But they can also be a danger.

Although it’s rare, these walls can trap children between the extending or folding partition and its solid end point, or even within the pocket of the returning door.

This danger hasn’t gone unnoticed. In New York, for example, state law requires safety devices on electrical operable walls in gyms, classrooms, and other school facilities. But even if you aren’t under regulations requiring safety devices, they are still a wise investment to protect students.

HAVE SAFE EQUIPMENT
Devices that can help prevent an operable-wall tragedy are:

• Two key-operated, tamper-proof control stations that require simultaneous activation to operate the wall
• An electric device controlling the wall’s movement that can reversed at any point in the extend or stack cycle
• A sensor that will stop the wall’s movement when a body or object moves between the leading panel of the wall and the direction in which the wall is moving, or if a body or object is in the stacking area of a partition in the stack cycle.

MAKE SAFETY A PRIORITY
Clear safety rules and procedures also play a crucial role in ensuring the safety of operable walls in gyms.

• A clear, highly visible notice should be placed as near as possible to each operating mechanism and on both sides of the wall.
• Instruct all school employees and others who may use the walls about how to safely use the operable wall and its safety devices.
• Never let students operate the wall!
• When the wall is being operated, keep students under supervision and don’t let them cross the moving path of the wall.
• Never bypass safety features or procedures.

DON”T BE FOOLED

It may seem overly cautious to worry about safety related to operable walls.

To properly protect your students, you need the appropriate safety devices and procedures, and these must be consistently used.