Homeowners With Automatic Gates Should Alert Authorities To Safety Concerns

06/07/2010

Residents with automatic gates should alert authorities over any safety concerns to avoid further tragedies, according to health and safety officials.

A five-year-old girl was killed at a block of flats in south Wales on Sunday, just five days after a six-year-old girl was killed by an automatic gate in Manchester.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has now launched a joint investigation into the deaths. Inspectors visited the scene of the accident in Bridgend and are assisting police with their investigation.

Police and the HSE have asked residents in Manchester to leave similar gates to the one involved in the tragedy locked open until they can be fully examined to ensure they do not pose a danger.

A spokesman for the HSE said: "Should anyone have any concerns about electric gates on their housing development, they should speak to their management company or their installer. They have a duty to ensure the gates will stop safely, should they be obstructed."

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Jonathan Betts, a partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: "I welcome the investigation following these two horrific fatal accidents. Whilst the circumstances of the accidents are not yet fully known, clearly something has gone seriously wrong.”