Sliding industrial gates

Health and safety risks

A sliding industrial gate is defined as ‘plant’ under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act) because it includes machinery in the form of wheels, rollers and tracks that enable mechanical movement of components.  This applies to both manual and automatic power operated industrial sliding gates.

Sliding industrial gates are essential for site security, but their heavy, automated movement introduces several critical health and safety hazards.

Failure to implement proper guarding and safety sensors can lead to fatalities or severe physical injuries, from:

• entanglement in moving parts
• crushing between the gate and fixed structures
• shearing at pinch points
• high-force impacts during operation
• electrocution.

Background

In 2022 and 2025, there were fatal incidents in Victoria when a sliding industrial gate fell onto and crushed a person.

In the past 5 years there have been similar fatal and serious incidents in:

• Queensland
• New South Wales
• Western Australia
• Northern Territory.

The moving component of the industrial gate can be referred to as a ‘leaf’. A leaf refers to a single panel or section of the gate that slides to open and close.

A gate can have one leaf — a single sliding gate — or, 2 leaves, as on a double sliding gate, where one slides one way and the other slides the opposite way.

Sliding industrial gates can be categorized as either track or cantilevered. They can be single leaf as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 or multi-leaf, also known as telescopic, as shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4.

Identifying hazards and risks

The Compliance code: Plant, Appendix E, provides a hazard checklist that can assist duty holders identify hazards associated with sliding industrial gates.

Using sliding industrial gates involves the following hazards and their associated health and safety risks.

Entanglement

Entanglement hazards include being pulled into the moving parts by loose clothing or hair which can result in crushing injuries from the gate's weight or pinch points.

Other hazards involve unintended movement from a power failure or manual error, and entrapment due to the gate's movement.

Automatic sliding industrial gates can include a power-driven rotating drive such as a rack and pinion as shown in Figure 5.

Crushing

Crushing hazards include the danger of being caught between the moving gate and fixed objects or being crushed by the gate's weight if it detaches as shown in Figure 6.

During opening, the leaf moves towards a fixed wall or end stop.

During closing, the leaf moves towards a fixed wall, end stop or opposite leaf.

Sliding industrial gate leaves can weigh between 250 kg and 2000 kg. In the event of a failure of the end stop, or track derailing, the gate may detach from the support structure and continue moving or fall to the ground as shown in Figure 7.

Shearing

Shearing hazards can happen when the moving gate traps a person or object between itself and a fixed structure, like a fence or wall, in a ‘guillotine’ or ‘scissoring’ effect as shown in Figure 8.

Track and cantilever gates use profiled rollers that move along a formed steel track.

Sliding industrial gates typically have vertical bars with openings large enough to pass body parts including upper and lower limbs between.

Power-operated automatic gates can unexpectedly start moving, or manual gates may roll if the ground is not level causing the vertical bars to move past fixed structure such as pylons, posts or fence bars.

Impact

Manually operated gates can rebound off the end-stop due to misuse. The rebound can cause the gate to swing or slide back with force, striking anyone in its path, as shown in Figure 9.

Nearby persons face hazards like being struck by the gate, getting crushed, or being impacted by a falling gate, which can cause severe injuries or fatalities.

Electrocution

Bottom-mount electrical drive motors may become exposed to flood waters and result in electrocution from conductive debris and damaged wiring and short circuits as shown in Figure 10.

Metal profiled rollers moving along formed steel tracks can shear or damage electrical extension leads and cables also potentially resulting in electrocution.

Eliminating and reducing risks

Risks associated with sliding industrial gates must be eliminated or reduced so far as is reasonably practicable.

Reducing the risk of entanglement

Designers should ensure that power driven rotating drives such as rack and pinion are appropriately isolated from physical contact during normal operation.

Appropriate isolation of powered functions and securing the leaf against manual movement needs to be in place before maintenance, repair and service is started.

Reducing the risk of crushing during normal operation

Typically, automatic sliding industrial gates will have sensing systems to detect the presence of an obstacle such as a car or person to prevent the powered closing movement of the leaf against an object such as a car or person.

Where the sliding industrial gate is manually operated, appropriate hand holds and bump stops need to be provided (Figure 11), in the design and manufacture, to reduce the risk of hands being crushed as the leaf closes against a fixed object.

Designers should consider the placement of the end stop to reduce the likelihood of a person becoming trapped or crushed by an opening leaf.

Where pedestrian access is provided next to the gate opening, a suitable barrier needs to be installed to prevent physical access to the crush hazard as shown in Figure 12.

Reducing the risk of crushing due to failure of end stop or track derailment

The design, manufacture and installation of the sliding industrial gate need to ensure that all leaves are appropriately supported through their entire range of movement. This can include installation of multiple cross-over supports to ensure the leaves are appropriately supported even in the event the end stop fails, as shown in Figure 13.

The track and cantilever gates are highly unstable due to their narrow width and high centre of gravity. They both require supporting structures to prevent them from falling over.

All sliding industrial gates need to have appropriate end stops at both ends of travel to prevent the gate leaves from leaving the end of the rail or track.

Where there are multiple leaves, each leaf will require an appropriate end stop to prevent the leaves from detaching from the tracks.

The design and installation of the end stops need to be suitable to stop the mass of the sliding industrial gate.

Where the primary end stop is bolted, a secondary stop or mechanism should be provided to ensure that if the primary stop’s attachments fail over time, that the secondary stop or mechanism will prevent the gate from falling.

This secondary mechanism could limit the gates travel by a secondary structure, track or rail ends stops, or ensure the gate will stop rolling before reaching a position where the gate is not supported.

Gate dampers can be installed to slow the rolling motion of manually operated sliding industrial gates including automatic gates in the event of a power failure to reduce damage to end stops.

Automatic power operated sliding gates should not solely rely on the electric motor and programmed stops to prevent the gate travelling beyond the supported track.

Automatic gates are regularly operated in manual mode, including during power outages and when a fault occurs with the drive system. For this reason, physical end stops need to be installed.

Where there is enough space, it may be reasonably practicable to design leaves to be self-supporting. This may be achieved by increasing the width of the base and adding multiple tracks.

Reducing the risk of shearing between gate rollers and formed tracks

Necessary machine guarding needs to be implemented, as part of the design to prevent physical access to the in-running nip point created between the gate rollers and the formed track they run on.

Eliminating and reducing the risk of shearing between vertical bars of the gate leaf and fixed objects

The shearing risk can be eliminated by the design and installation of the gate by increasing the distance between the sliding industrial gate and the fixed fence it travels alongside as shown in Figure 14.

Where the shearing risk cannot be eliminated, necessary machine guarding needs to be implemented as part of the design to prevent physical access to the shearing hazard created between the moving gate and fixed objects including supporting pylons, posts and fixed fence structures. This can include the installation of an enclosure around the track where the leaf retracts into.

High risk areas include next to the electrical drive motor and control boxes where employees need to conduct regular inspection and maintenance. Fixed paneling should be installed to prevent technicians leaning or reaching through the gate and fence.

Pressure sensing systems can be installed to the opening face surrounding the enclosure which the leaf retracts into. This system should automatically stop and reverse the direction of travel if contact is detected.

Similarly, torque limiting sensors incorporated into the drive system can automatically stop the powered movement if an overload condition is detected due to a collision.

Reducing the risk of being struck by a rebounding gate

Installation of cushioning and bump stops can increase the likelihood of a gate rebounding.

Gate dampers should be installed to reduce the travel speed of the leaf which will reduce the likelihood and severity of any rebound as well as reduce damage to end stops.

Eliminating and reducing the risk of electrocution

Employers must isolate, de-energise, lockout and tagout plant before maintenance work or repairs.

Ensure that a lockable power isolator is installed in a location that is next to the gate’s motor(s). The isolator should be able to be accessed without reaching into any danger point while the gate is operating.

Ensure that the power to the gate is isolated before any work is started.

The risk of electrical extension leads and cables being damaged by sliding industrial gates during maintenance can be eliminated by using battery powered hand-held tools.

Where automatic sliding industrial gates may become submerged in water, including in areas of natural flooding or basement carparks, electric drive motors should be installed using a top-mounted design.

Legal duties

Persons who manage or control workplaces

If you manage or control a workplace with an industrial sliding gate, you must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the gate and its surrounding entrance are safe to use and free of health risks for everyone entering or leaving the workplace. This includes not modifying the original design and carrying out any repairs at the earliest opportunity. Risks associated with sliding industrial gates must be eliminated or reduced so far as is reasonably practicable.

Employers and self-employed persons

An employer or self-employed person must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that other persons are not exposed to risks to their health or safety arising from the operation, maintenance or repair of a sliding industrial gate at their workplace.

An employer must provide and maintain sliding industrial gates that are so far as is reasonably practicable safe and without risks to their employees’ or contractors’ health. This includes having systems of work associated with the maintenance, inspection, repair and cleaning tasks associated with their use. This also includes not modifying the original design, carrying out any repairs at the earliest opportunity, and controlling risks in the interim period.

Designers, manufacturers and suppliers

Designers, manufacturers and suppliers of sliding industrial gates must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the sliding industrial gate is safe and without risks to health if it is used for a purpose for which it was designed, manufactured and supplied.

Persons installing, erecting or commissioning

Persons involved in the installation, erection or commissioning of sliding industrial gates must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that nothing about the way in which the sliding industrial gate is installed, erected or commissioned makes the sliding industrial gate unsafe or a risk to health.