Door Industry Journal - Spring 2018

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 94 THE door industry journal spring 2018 Automated Gates & Barriers Traffic flow, cost-savings and a safe site Building a new housing development with 725 new homes is no small project, with many factors to consider. At Redrow’s Westley Green site in Essex, their concerns were: • How did they let the contractors in but keep the public out – to ensure their safety • How could they work on a site where people live but at the same time, create clear demarcation to prevent unauthorised access? • How could they prevent the bottle-neck of site traffic entering and exiting site? Redrow turned to Green Gate Access Systems and took on a SOSEC barrier for a month’s trial. The SOSEC 100 unit included the vehicle barrier and gate for pedestrian access. The two key unique features of the barrier; mobile and solar powered, gave the site manager Tom Holmes the ability to use it in any weather, not worry about a power supply and move it easily around the site as the development grew. One of the main problems that the barrier has solved is the flow of traffic at the site entrance/exit. Before the barrier was in place, deliveries were arriving at site together – one trying to get in and one trying to get out through the narrow entrance. The SOSEC barrier eliminated this problem simply by slowing and controlling the traffic. With the high volume of traffic arriving and leaving the site, flow around the site and safety of the site was much-improved. The barrier also removed the need (and cost) of staffing the entrance, meaning a member of staff could be more usefully deployed elsewhere on the site more productively. Health and safety requirements were also addressed – the barrier only allows access to those with authority, so no HSE intervention fines. Senior Project Manager Tom Holmes, said: “The barrier improved things instantly and is doing the job we need it to. We’re an incident-free site. With the barrier in place and with it being solar-powered, we know that it will always work, whatever the weather and we don’t need to worry about getting power to it as we move the site perimeter. We had it for a month’s trial but realised pretty quickly that we would keep it for the duration of the build because it’s so easy to move around and get working.” Benefits of the SOSEC barrier at Redrow: Health and safety addressed Unauthorised access prevented Cost savings (power/staffing) Easy flow of traffic To find out how Green Gate Access Systems can improve your security, please call 01622 534000 or visit www.sosec.co.uk .