With most students back to school this week, keeping pupils safely inside and unauthorised visitors out is a vital concern for any school or education facility.
Automated (powered) gates can help safeguard your site, but because they are classed as machinery, they must be designed, installed and maintained to a high standard. If not, the very system meant to protect can cause serious harm.
Best Practice for Automated School Gates
Risk assessment
Before commissioning a new install or for any existing gates have a trained, competent installer complete a risk assessment that considers site layout, usage patterns, wind loading, pedestrian desire lines, and emergency access.
Safety features
HSE guidance is clear: a powered gate must respond in a safe way whenever anyone interacts with it, including foreseeable misuse (e.g. children playing near or on it) and in bad weather.
For automatic gates and barriers in schools, at least two different safety technologies should be present typically photocells or light curtains/laser scanners plus safety (pressure) edges positioned correctly to prevent crushing. These safety mechanisms should ensure the gate stops and reverses if people or objects are detected.
UK standards
Automatic gates and barriers must meet BS EN 12453 / 12604 (safety and mechanical requirements) and be CE/UKCA marked, with a Declaration of Conformity in the handover pack. However, these alone don’t guarantee a safe installation competent design and installation are of paramount importance.
Maintenance
Regular checks and maintenance are essential to keep school gates and barriers safe for all staff and students. Service at least every six months (more if usage is heavy) by a suitably qualified installer. This aligns with sector guidance and keeps you ahead of term-time faults.
Even a correctly installed gate needs routine checks: force limits, sensor alignment and environmental factors (wind, debris, flooding) change over time.
Six quick checks you can do this week
- Safety devices working? Confirm photocells and light curtains are clean and aligned; test safety edges stop and reverse the gate on contact. Clear leaves and debris that could block sensors or tracks.
- Manual release known and accessible? Key staff should know where the manual release keys are and how to put the gate into safe manual mode (practice it).
- No “reducing gaps”? Look for hinge, post and infill pinch points; protect with shrouds/guards or safety edges.
- Controls out of reach. Push buttons or key switches should be at least 1.5 m away from the moving leaf so you can’t reach through to start it.
- Solid foundations, sound hardware. Check hinges, posts, fixings and end stops for any wear or corrosion and book repairs promptly.
- Pedestrians kept separate. Provide a dedicated pedestrian gate and guard rails so pupils aren’t waiting in the sweep of a vehicle gate. Use a flashing pre-warning lamp to signal movement.
Choosing the right gate for your site
- Swing vs sliding. Swing gates are often cost-effective but sensitive to wind and slopes; sliding (ideally cantilever) can be more stable and reliable if designed correctly.
- Entry methods. Your access control choice affects both security and safety. From push buttons to ANPR and Biometric with secondary checks, match the method to your safeguarding and traffic plan and pair it with the right safety measures.
- Aesthetics & safeguarding. Robust, powder-coated steel that matches your perimeter railings looks professional and resists corrosion.
How MES Systems can help
At MES Systems, we help schools and education facilities plan, modernise and maintain gate systems so they’re simple to use and compliant. We are a Gate Safe accredited supplier, meaning we adhere to best practice for gate installation and design.
- Safety & compliance reviews. We can survey your existing gates against current best practice (BS EN 12453/12604 intent and HSE guidance) and provide a clear action plan.
- Planned maintenance. Six-monthly servicing to satisfy audits and inspections.
- Design & installation. If you’re planning new works, we’ll help you pick the right mechanism (swing vs sliding), entry method and layout to separate vehicles and pedestrians.
- Full integration. We can provide a full fire and security package for schools and education facilities, integrating automated gates with access control systems, CCTV, and intruder alarms.
Gate safety is an ongoing process of good design, routine checks and planned maintenance. Get a quote today.
