There have been a few cases within Council premises of children sustaining serious injuries from trapping their fingers in the hinge side of doors.

All new and replacement doors in Council premises should be fitted with finger guards as standard however there is still a potential risk from existing doors.

Managers of Establishments must assess the risk of finger traps in doors and if the risk is significant should take action to minimise the risk of injury.

In doing a risk assessment the following should be taken into account:

• Age of any children at risk;
• Activities in area of door;
• Level of supervision;
• Children with special needs;
• Other vulnerable client groups or individuals;
• Room layout e.g. restricting access to hazard;
• Any history of previous incidents;
• How easy/difficult is the door to open by a child on their own (position of door handle etc).

Not all doors will require the fitting of finger guards; in most establishments only a few doors will require protection and some may need none at all.

Measures to minimise the risk would normally involve the fitting of a finger guard to the hinge side of the door but could also include limiting or changing the activities taking place in the vicinity of the door and/or ensuring that children (or other vulnerable persons cannot open the door without assistance.

Most of the proprietary finger guards available are easy to fit by someone with minimal DIY ability and are available from a number of suppliers including:

• Fingersafe, tel no 01702 479474, com
• Fingershield, tel no 0161 2725500 co.uk

By their very nature, any protective device fitted is subject to a high degree of wear and tear and should therefore be regularly inspected as part of the establishments safety inspection programme and renewed when appropriate.

A reassessment should be carried out where changes are made to the use of the building, client group, activities taking place etc. or when an incident takes place.

For further information please contact the Health & Safety team (healthandsafety@buckinghamshire.gov.uk), or speak with the building maintenance team.