If you work in a school or early years setting you will know all too well how important door finger protectors are! They are an understated bit of kit that don’t really get talked about all that often but they really should as they are basically saving little fingers on a daily basis!
It was in the news last month that “plastic surgeons are warning that children and toddlers whose fingers are crushed by closing doors can end up with lifelong problems and that in some cases the injuries could lead to amputation and long-term pain!” It is all too easy for a child to get their finger caught in the hinge cavity of a door but thankfully door finger protectors prevent this from happening!
My Mum works in a school and all the doors have finger protectors on so as to avoid any nasty crushed finger accidents. She thinks they are fantastic product as the consequences of a child getting their fingers caught in a door could be horrific and so painful. As a school, nursery, play area etc you have a duty of care to make sure that children are not at risk of getting their fingers caught in closing doors on your premises.
Insight Security kindly sent my Mum some of their Door Finger Protectors so she can use them in the school she works in and in return I could feature them on my blog. If you haven’t got any door finger protectors yet or if you need to buy some new ones to replace old ones that have split then you can get them at Insight Security. They are extremely well made and most importantly – fit for purpose! The unit is designed to prevent people trapping fingers in the hinge cavity of a closing door which can result in serious injury or even amputation of trapped fingers.
As you will see in the video above, not all door finger guards are designed/made the same way and some of them make little or no difference to the danger posed by fingers being put near a closing door. The Children’s Charter video shows the door finger protectors that they don’t think are good enough and then at then end they mention the one style of door finger protector that they do think are designed well and will successfully protect children’s fingers from closing doors…..that particular product is available to buy from Insight Security. Order them here –> https://www.insight-security.com/finger-protector-strip-commercial-grade-choice-of-colours-height-1965mm
Nick Balmforth MBE is one of the creators of the British Safety Standard for Indoor Children’s Play Areas and in the video he explains the risks involved with closing doors and he then examines different types of door hinge shields which he thinks, in his professional opinion, are unsafe. Then at the end of the video he shows the Safety Assured Door Finger Protectors (which are stocked by Insight Security) and he says the following –> “And here is the one example that I have found that is reasonably practicable, totally fit for purpose, meets all the statutory health and safety requirements and that includes , very importantly, building and fire regulations”.
The door finger protector strips are commercial grade and they are available in 4 colours to match the colour of the door you are fitting them to. You can order them in White, Beech Effect, Mahogany Effect and Charcoal (Dark Grey). Each strip is 1965mm high and there are no special tools needed to fit them to doors. You just simply peel and stick them to the door.
The finger protector strip comprises two parts, the “C” Channel section and the Folding Protective Screen section. The two section “Bond-On” format of this product, means that it can be used on all types of doors including rising butt hinged doors, Metal, Plastic, Glass or wooden doors, etc. Plus the bonus about not needing to screw these on to the door is that these particular Door Finger Protectors from Insight Security can be applied to fire doors as there is no risk of drilling into an asbestos core!
My Mum received some of these Door Finger Protectors from Insight Security so she can use them in the school she works in and she says they are easy to apply and do their job perfectly! She thinks it is so important that all doors have these fitted to them as there is always a big risk that children will get their fingers crushed in closing doors and with these on the door that won’t happen.
In the photo below you can see the Door Finger Protector in use on a door. The product is marked as a ‘Hinge Cavity Side Protector’. Please note that there is a ‘Hinge Pin Side Protector’ also available to buy and that protects the hinge pin side of a door. It is fitted in the same way as the Door Finger Protectors and available in the same colours. You can order the ‘Finger Protector – Hinge Pin Strip (for rear of door)’ here >> https://www.insight-security.com/finger-protector-hinge-pin-strip-for-rear-of-door
As I mentioned earlier on in this post, just last month the BBC published an article about the fact that ‘Children and toddlers whose fingers are crushed by closing doors can end up with lifelong problems’. It says that according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents figures, about 30,000 children trap their fingers in doors each year and more than 1,500 of them need surgery!’ That is a dreadful number of children injured each year and nearly all those injuries could be prevented if only more places had door finger protectors on their doors. You can read the BBC article here >> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41583836
So not just school and nurseries need to have these on their doors but I think any place that children might visit. Such as restaurants, cinemas, leisure centres, doctors surgeries, hospitals, dentists…you name it – if a child will visit their establishment I think they should do their best to prevent any finger-crushing incidents by having these fitted to their doors. Please note that I am not a health and safety official and because of that I do not know what is legally required when it comes to risk-assessments and duty of care regulations. I do know that if we all start looking at doors as a potential risk whenever we are out and about with our children that we are bound to find plenty of doors that don’t have a protector on but probably should have one fitted!
I would like to thank Insight Security for sending us the Door Finger Protectors to review. If you would like to get in touch with them to place an order or to ask a question about any of their products please go to www.insight-security.com or call them on 01273 475 500. There is also the option to live chat with them on their website.
They stock a huge array of different security products and they have been established for over 20 years, Insight Security prides itself on delivering “Best Value Security Solutions” and Practical, No Nonsense Advice to customers from the public sector, businesses of all sizes and to home owners looking for ways to protect their home. Their rigorous product selection criteria and testing, is a guarantee of quality …and that is why they can proudly offer their “No Quibble” Money Back Guarantee on products purchased from them directly.
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Click here to order your Door Finger Protectors. If you are ordering 1-10 they are £27.65 exc VAT each or if you order 11-50 they are £25.95 exc VAT each and if you want to order more than 50 please call them to get a quote.
I am happy to say that this isn’t the first time I have reviewed for this company and I hope it isn’t the last as they have lots more things I would like to feature! ? I have also reviewed Lockable Window Restrictors, Socket Pro Safety Covers, Plug Safe Lock & an Emergency Power Bank With Torch