garage door locks - are yours effective?

garage door locks - are yours effective?

3 Common Causes Of Garage-Related Injuries You Can Prevent

Sara Walters

Your home's garage is a common entryway for your home and you might pass through it several times a day. It is important that you keep your garage door maintained and the interior well lit and clean. Each time you go into your garage, you could be at risk of sustaining an injury from a garage accidents. Here are three common causes of garage-related injuries and how you can prevent them.

Garage Door

The door that protects your vehicles, tools, and other property kept in your garage can also cause injury to yourself or one of your family members. A person's fingers getting caught, pinched, or cut off inside the garage's section joints as the garage door is closing is the most common type of injury from a garage door. According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), in 2007 there were 7557 hospital visits due to injuries with a garage door's section joint. 

When your garage door tension spring breaks, the spring can uncoil and cause injuries. NEISS reported over 300 injuries in 2007 from this type of spring-related injury. Then, when the spring breaks, there is a chance that the garage door can fall and cause extra injury. 

The best way to prevent injuries related to your garage door is to have it serviced by a professional. Garage door spring repair companies are found in many areas. You should check the garage door sensors periodically to make sure they are working. Then, have the sensors replaced or cleaned if they are not sensing properly. Watch out for any visible problems or mechanism failures and call a professional to do the repairs. Also, teach your children to not play with or around the garage doors.

Not Enough Lighting

A second type of hazard in your garage is not having enough lighting for you to see as you walk through your garage. Garages are a popular place to store any outdoor toys and tools and all the extras that won't fit in your home. These types of items in the garage can create clutter, causing you to trip and fall while you are trying to maneuver around inside your dimly-lit garage. 

It is estimated that one third of garages have inadequate lighting. According to a 2005 Home Safety Council/GarageTek survey, some garages have only one dim light in the center of the room. As the number of homes with three car garages doubled between 1992 and 2005, this gives homeowners a new area to use as a work space or play with their children. For this reason, it is important that your garage has plenty of lighting to illuminate every activity you do in the garage. 

You can remedy your garage's lighting problem and make your garage safer by installing one or two more electrical outlets for lighting and using as bright a bulb that the fixture will allow to make your dim garage brightly lit. It is also a good idea to keep your garage's floor clear of clutter so you don't increase your chance of tripping and falling over the clutter.

Poorly Marked Stairs

When the stairs inside your garage are not marked clearly and you cannot see them, it can result in a fall.  In North America, tens of thousand people are injured each year from the falls on stairs. The American National Council on Compensation Insurance estimated in 2001-2002 the cost of fall injuries on stairs was second only to those caused by motor vehicles. And, if your garage is poorly lit with one single bulb, your garage's stairs are not going to be visible and you or someone else could fall and become hurt.

You can fix this problem by installing a handrail on your garage stairs and adding an extra lighting fixture above the stairs. Also, you can install reflective tape or paint on the stairs to highlight each step.

Watch out for these three common hazards in your garage and take the actions to prevent them from occurring.


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garage door locks - are yours effective?

What kind of locks do you have on your garage door? Did you know that there are different types of locks to choose from to secure the garage door? The locks that are securing your garage door are probably overlooked - some people don't even bother locking their garage door. If you store tools, lawn care equipment and sporting goods in your garage, your garage is a target for burglary and it should be protected. Find out how I secure my garage door to ensure that the thousands of dollars worth of tools that I own are not stolen from me.

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