<span style="font-weight: 400;">Safety should be the first concern for every business owner. Sad to say, many forget to consider the most essential elements — like their automatic sliding doors. Daily safety checks, emergency procedures, and other minor details can have a serious impact on the safety of your employees and customers. </span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Having a daily safety checklist is likely just as necessary as having an annual one. Doing daily and annual checks is the best way to guarantee a safe environment in your business establishment or workspace. Reviewing this daily safety checklist for automatic doors can help you avoid costly </span><a href="https://macarthurlocksanddoors.com/door-repair-services/"><b>door repair</b></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> servicing and safety incidents.</span>

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<b>Check the door hardware</b>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">It is imperative to make sure that your automatic sliding door hardware is in good shape before letting people use it. </span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Sensors</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Walk up to the door at an average pace. As you step within the five-foot radius, the sensor should activate, and the door swings open at an appropriate speed — not too quickly, but not so slowly, either. The door should slide open smoothly and evenly without slamming into you, banging into the walls, or scraping against the floor. After stepping out of the five-foot radius, the door should remain open for at least 1.5 seconds before it slides closed.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Safety beam sensor</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Some sliding doors are equipped with a safety beam sensor or light barrier for added safety. When the safety beam sensor detects an obstacle, it stops the door from closing, preventing people or objects in between the sliding doors from being clamped. To test it, standstill between the sensor’s light path. The door should remain open. Make sure that the safety beam sensors are wired into the system and the presence sensor detection time is set to 60 seconds.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Closing speed</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Automatic sliding doors have sensors that detect whether people or obstructions are in the way. When there are none, the doors close after a delay. Closing times for automatic doors vary depending on the dimensions and weight of the door. In general, sliding doors should remain open a minimum of 1.5 seconds after loss of detection. The ideal closing rate is no faster than one foot per second, slowing down to two feet per second before fully closing. </span>

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<b>Check the area around the door</b>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Be sure to check the general area surrounding your automatic door.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Mats</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Mats are usually put at the sliding door entrance to prevent dirt and mud from being tracked through the door. Mats are generally as wide as the door opening, with a 5-inch room on either side. Make sure that the door swings open smoothly without getting caught or being impacted by the mat.  The door should take at least 1.5 seconds before it begins to close after you step off the mat.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Clearance</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Make sure that there is enough empty space next to the opening to accommodate the door as it slides open. Put away any obstacles, such as boxes, chairs, signs, or other obstructions that could interfere with the automatic door. The floor guides should be kept clean and free of any debris that could stop the door from sliding. Check that the door has no tripping or slipping hazards and that all door panels have no broken or cut glass.</span>

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<b>Regular maintenance is key</b>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Regular maintenance of your sliding doors is not just best practice and a smart idea; it is also something your company is legally obligated to do. As with any machine, regular maintenance helps make your automatic sliding door last for a long time. By inspecting the mechanism regularly, you can spot hidden problems and fix them before the door malfunctions.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Automatic sliding doors must be inspected for maintenance by a certified service company on a six-monthly basis. Typically, quotes and orders for new automatic doors include the first year of maintenance, and recommendations for the upkeep thereafter should be found in the manual provided with the doors. Preventive maintenance should be carried out by a suitably qualified professional.</span>

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<b>Professional automatic door service in Washington DC</b>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Why you should not do the maintenance yourself? As much as you want to save on the cost, you may not have the proper equipment or training in place to complete a proper safety check. And that is where we come in. Let MacArthur Locks and Doors carry out the regular maintenance of all your property’s automatic sliding doors. We are a top choice for </span><b>door repair in Washington DC</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">. With our safety checklist, you can rest assured that your doors are meeting all relevant safety standards.</span>