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Door Safety Resource Center
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This article was first published in the July 2008 edition of Doors & Hardware Magazine. Written by Geoff Moseley the CEO of Fingershield Safety (USA) Inc. the article covers the main aspects of Door Safety and finger pinch injury prevention. |
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This is the Wikipedia entry on Door Safety it covers the main aspects of Door Safety and finger pinch injury prevention. |
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BBC News Press Release Summary:
COUNCILS across the UK are paying out hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation to people who get their fingers trapped in doors.
Almost 5,000 incidents were reported across the country in the last three years, with £652,761.82 ($1,174,969) paid out in compensation.
Politicians and other groups have branded the payouts “ridiculous” and are asking why these incidents are still happening when they are so easy to prevent.
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BBC News Press Release Summary:
By Cara Sulieman
COUNCILS across Scotland have shelled out over £30,000 ($54,000) in compensation to children who have trapped their fingers in school doors.
Over the past three years, six children have claimed compensation for the common childhood accident, with many blaming ‘self-closing’ doors.
The largest single payment was a whopping £14,083.12 ($25,349) paid out to one pupil in the Highland Council area for the damage caused.
The lowest payment was still a significant £2698 ($4,856), paid out after an incident in a West Lothian school.
Other local authorities wouldn’t release such detailed records of compensation claims, meaning that the real cost of this common accident could be much higher.
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| Specifications |
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The “Caring for our Children-National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs” a document produced by the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care identifies “standards that have the greatest impact on disease, disability and death (morbidity and mortality) in out-of-home child care.”
“STANDARD 5.017 - Finger-pinch Protection Devices states:
"Finger-pinch protection devices shall be installed wherever doors are accessible to children…”
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The USA General Services Administration "Child Care Center Design Guide" (Public Buildings Service July 2003) has the following references:
6.7.1 “…Children’s fingers must be protected from pinching or crushing on gate hinge spaces…”
7.4 “…Dutch doors are not recommended as they pose a hazard for finger pinching…”
7.6.4 “…Toilet areas are to have gates or half doors at entrances and may have child height partitioning between toilets. As with full height doors, these elements must have hinge protection so that children’s hands and fingers are not accidently pinched or crushed…”
10.1.17 “…It is essential that children's fingers be protected from being crushed or otherwise injured in the hinge space of a swinging door or gate. There are simple devices available to attach to the hinge side, ensuring that this type of injury does not occur. As the door closes, the hand is pushed out of the opening, away from harm. In addition, young children are vulnerable to injury when they fall against the other (hinged) side of doors and gates, striking projected hinges. Piano hinges are not recommended to alleviate this problem as they tend to sag over time with heavy use. Instead, an inexpensive device fitting over hinges is available on the market and should be used to ensure safety….”
10.2.1 “… Gates shall be self closing and latching. Children’s fingers must be protected from pinching or crushing on gate hinge spaces…”
10.7.3 “…To prevent injury, all doors will have closers that restrict the rate of closure"
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The US Air Force, Air Force Instruction 34-248 1 October 1999 Chapter 10
Safety 10.7 Other Dangers standard (10.7.6) states:
"…Have finger guards on activity room doors…"
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The Department of Defense, Unified Facilities Criteria for Child Development Centers Document: ufc_4_740_14 1st August 2002 has the following references:
7-1.2.8 Install finger-pinch protection devices wherever doors are accessible to children.
7-1.4.1 Provide finger guards on the hinge edge of both the interior and exterior sides of all activity room doors up to 1520 mm (60 in.) minimum above finished floor. Finger guards protect children’s fingers from being crushed or injured in the hinge space of a door or gate.
7-1.4.7 Install closer on all exterior child activity room doors to restrict the rate of closure.
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| Research Work |
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Characteristics of Pediatric Traumatic Amputations Treated in Hospital
Emergency Departments: United States, 1990–2002
Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first study
to use a nationally representative sample to broadly investigate
amputation injuries among children. The majority
of traumatic amputation injuries occur to young
children, to males, and to fingers and the majority involve
doors. Adolescents experience a higher proportion
of more serious amputation injuries. Effective interventions
exist but are inadequately used to prevent many of
these injuries, including door stops and modifications,... |
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Hand Injury Prevention
Raymond G. Hart, MD, MPH From the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery, Louisville, KY.
...specifically address amputations in the non–workrelated
population. Their results indicate that, of the 107 million
ED visits that occurred in 2001, just under 3%, or 3 million, of
these visits involved injury to the fingers. The largest percentage
of these injuries (44%) were lacerations. For persons 15 years or
older, an estimated 21,431 ED patients annually suffered
amputations, which equates to about 0.75% of ED finger injuries
each year. In addition, the authors identified 2 high-risk
populations for sustaining finger and fingertip amputations:
children younger than 4 years and men aged 45 to 65 years. The
most common mechanisms of injury were doors in the younger
population and power tools among the adults... |
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Childhood finger injuries and safeguards
Abstract
Objective—To understand the epidemiology, sites, and mechanism of finger injuries
in children and to consider safety measures.
Setting—Accident and emergency department
of a children’s hospital in Glasgow.
Methods—A prospective study was carried out with a specifically designed questionnaire.
Altogether 283 children presenting with isolated finger injuries were identified over six months. Available safety measures to avoid or reduce damage from such injuries were considered. Results—Finger injuries were common (38%) in those under 5 years. Most of these occurred at home (59%), commonly (48%) because of jamming between two closeable opposing surfaces, and mostly (79%) in doors at home and school. The doors were commonly (85%) closed by someone and often (60%) by a child. Sixteen (6%) were
treated for amputation...
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Press Release Summary:
A recent study of more than 11,000 children published in the journal Pediatrics found that door hinges and frames represent the greatest danger to small children in the form of hand and finger injuries...... |
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Google Blogs Alert for: Finger pinch injuries
Surviving My Worst Nightmare: A Child's Injury.
I walked around the corner expecting a minor pinch and saw my child's hand clasping that of the baby, and blood dripping down both of them fast. I grabbed a napkin (why did I grab a small napkin?), collapsed on the floor clasping the...... |
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Google News Alert for: Fingershield
Dads, kids, and lost fingers - warning to dads of toddlers
Great Dad - San Francisco,California,USA |
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The Redwoods Group Insurance Program for Jewish Community Organizations
RISK MANAGEMENT ALERT
TOPIC: Protecting Children’s Fingers from Door Injuries |
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By David Wolf, Attorney : Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Parents, teachers, caregivers, and day care and school administrators can better safeguard the living, play, and school space for children by installing important safety products like the Fingershield door hinge guard. This safety product is distributed through Fingershield Safety USA, a company based in St. Augustine (St. Johns County) Florida. I personally spoke to the CEO of the company, Geoff Moseley, a man committed to preventing finger and hand injuries to children...
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