Beyond Safety: How Door Finger Guards Reduce Liability for Schools and Businesses

22 Oct Beyond Safety: How Door Finger Guards Reduce Liability for Schools and Businesses

Where there’s blame, there’s a claim or so the saying goes! Compensation cases for finger trapping incidents have soared in recent years, with more and more individuals acting against schools and workplaces. If successful, there is a lot to gain as Fletchers Solicitors details:

“Finger injury compensation amounts are made up of general damages and special damages. General damages relate to the pain and suffering you’ve experienced, including the impact your injury has had on your quality of life. Special damages compensate for any financial losses you’ve incurred as a result of your finger injury. This can include expenses such as travel costs, medical bills, and lost earnings.”

With finger injury compensation payouts also including future costs (i.e. ongoing medical care, specialist equipment and long term treatment), the costs can certainly add up for the school or business at the receiving end of a claim.

The average compensation payout for a serious finger fracture is between £7,500 and £20,000. With this in mind, taking steps to reduce your liability and protect all who use your school building or business premises is a must. Here’s how our door finger guards do just that…

Prevent painful injuries

As the primary function of our innovative finger door guards, the prevention of injury benefits all who use or visit your premises, especially when used in high-traffic areas.

As well as physically blocking fingers from getting caught in hinge cavities, our protectors actively eject wandering hands and fingers from the danger zone to reduce the risk of crushing or pinching injuries to zero. With fewer injuries comes fewer compensation claims and insurance payouts.

Comply with regulations

There are many building codes, occupational health and safety regulations, and school safety standards to follow. While not a legal requirement, most guidance recommends the use of finger protection on doors – and for good reason!

Installing guards helps demonstrate compliance, which in turn limits legal exposure for your school or business. It’s also evidence of due diligence, which is also certain to help you achieve a favourable outcome in court. By being proactive with finger guard installation, you’re demonstrating that your organisation has taken reasonable precautions to prevent foreseeable accidents.

Keep your business open

Finger trapping incidents have a negative impact on productivity too, with a surprising number of hours lost when entrapment occurs.

Workplace injuries can lead to absenteeism and reduced staff output, and it’ll affect how your business operates. With our finger guards fitted however, you’ll have no such problems. By preventing finger injuries, you can avoid these indirect financial and operational liabilities.

Lower insurance premiums

Protecting yourself with insurance is a must for schools and commercial enterprises. There are several types of insurance you can obtain as a school or business, with everything from public liability, professional indemnity and business interruption insurance to commercial insurance and risk protection arrangement (RPA) applicable.

While many of these insurance policies are essential to doing business or operating as a school, minimising sky-high premiums will help to keep costs manageable. Our door finger guards can help with that too.

As a safety installation that mitigates risk, the use of our finger protection products can reduce premiums for general liability or workers’ compensation insurance.

Promote a safer culture

For parents sending their children to school or staff working on your premises on a daily basis, safety is of course paramount. Making a visible commitment to safety fosters trust among all to give everyone (including staff, students and visitors) much-needed peace of mind.

Safety-conscious environments are less likely to face negligence claims. Make sure your school or business is on the right side of the law by installing our door finger guards.