OSHA Regulations: What’s Covered and What’s Not

As the on-site maintenance and repair worker at your business, you are the go-to guy (or gal) for repairs and safety. You understand the importance of routine maintenance on the machinery and tools you and your team use daily. And the garage doors you use to store your company products and equipment should be no exception.

When it comes to garage doors, it’s easy to overlook the overwhelming amount of overhead door safety precautions you should take. But OSHA, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, doesn’t overlook them – they enforce them. How can you make sure you prevent your business from receiving any citations? Besides keeping up with routine repairs and replacements of your overhead garage door components – there is one major step you can take to help you pass OSHA regulations.

PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN

The best way to ensure that your garage door will pass OSHA regulations is to put a preventative maintenance plan in place. The majority of the time, this is done by a “qualified overhead door service company” like ourselves. The American Door Works Preventative Maintenance Plan will ensure that the inspection, maintenance, and repair work needed to comply with OSHA regulations is covered. It also follows the three OSHA Safety program standards:

1. Maintenance Practices and Intervals: All door systems should be in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications including how they are installed, inspected, and maintained
2. Entrapment Devices: All motorized door systems should be equipped with entrapment devices that meet the manufacturer’s specifications including photo eyes, sensing edges, and modernized upgrades that are necessary
3. Documentation and Reporting: All documentation should be thorough and include any maintenance or service work performed, problems or deficiencies found, and practices used to inspect the doors

Last but not least, as the maintenance aficionado at your business, you will want to familiarize yourself with the General Duty Clause. This clause has been the cause of many citations for businesses with poor overhead door safety practices and improperly maintained or installed doors. To keep you and your people safe and avoid any citations, the key is to be preventative.

We offer a free site evaluation, where we will report on the condition of the equipment, and then provide recommendations for your evaluation and authorization. After this initial survey, we visit your facility at agreed-upon scheduled intervals (Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annually, Annually, or Other). Also, make it a priority to learn as much as you can about OSHA regulations and seek out preventative plans that will increase overhead door safety. To learn more about OSHA regulations that relate to your commercial garage doors, you can visit their website or click here for an informative PDF.