Health and Safety
If you are specifying solutions for your organisation it is important that you consider the following findings. If your organisation has any other type of device fitted (particularly those without foot clearance), you might even think about replacing them with SafeOpen Ergo.
We recently engaged OHS consulting firm NZWorksafe Ltd to conduct an analysis on a range of SafeOpen foot operated door openers.
The products were assessed against the following criteria (quoted below):
- Ergonomic aspects – both ease of use and appropriate muscle usage
- Biomechanical efficiency – steps taken to mitigate against the use of weaker muscle groups
- Body clearance – whether users are encouraged to stand outside the opening arc of a door
- Foot clearance – whether there is risk of foot contact with a door opening unexpectedly
- Tripping hazard – whether there is risk of tripping on the product
- Strength of fixing – whether there is risk of detachment from the door
As a result of the analysis, SafeOpen Ergo Left and Ergo Right were fully recommended for public, commercial and workplace Health and Safety applications.
The unhanded model (SafeOpen Basic) was recommended for a more restricted set of circumstances - where the door is light and there is visibility of people that are about push-enter from the other side of a door.
Our budget model (SafeOpen Light), was created as a lower specification alternative, and we do not recommend it for Health and Safety applications but rather for light use/domestic situations.
"In summary we would strongly recommend that you focus upon SafeOpen Ergo Left and Right for OHS/WHS situations as they appear to be unique in addressing the full range of considerations that we have examined, particularly as compared to other generic products on the market." NZ WorkSafe Ltd, 29 May 2020
We think that SafeOpen Ergo products are the best foot operated door openers in the world from a Health and Safety perspective - and we invite you to put them to the test!
