Bismarck, North Dakota
CHI St. Alexius Health in Bismarck, North Dakota, was struggling with a safety solution that was causing a problem of its own. The busy regional hospital was employing gates on various stairwells in order to keep patients and staff safe, but the gates themselves closed with a deafening “clang” that echoed through the building.
Grant Zinke, facilities manager at CHI St. Alexius, recalls the struggle vividly. “We would get complaints from staff – including some who were working several floors above the gates – who found them very distracting,” he says. “We tried everything to stop those gates from making that noise, but anything we added wore out quickly, and we were right back to where we started.”
The gates were meant as a fire safety precaution, keeping people from accidentally going into the basement in the event of a fire. Since the gates opened up, but not down, users could tell immediately that they were on the first floor if they met the gate’s resistance, even if smoke was present. They could then seek an exit. In the meantime, though, the noise from the slamming gates made people forget about the potential safety benefits. Zinke and his team at CHI St. Alexius needed gates that did their job without disrupting staff or patients.
“I came across PS Safety Access™ at a trade show,” Zinke recalls. “I had a chance to try out EdgeHalt® Ladder Safety Gates in person and knew immediately that I had found what I was looking for.”
Zinke collected measurements and sent the details to PS Safety Access. Very quickly, the PS Safety Access team suggested a combination of EdgeHalt Ladder Safety Gate and EdgeHalt Posi-Stop Ladder Safety Gate models, both of which feature unique Slam-Proof™ technology that controls the gate’s closing speed and reduces noise.
EdgeHalt Ladder Safety Gates are adjustable and reliable and have been tested to the OSHA, ANSI and Canadian COHS standards and exceed the loading requirement by two times. EdgeHalt® Posi-Stop Ladder Safety Gates are available in single and paired variations and are the perfect solution when there isn’t a regular railing or surface for a strike plate to stop or rest in place against. This gate has also been tested to meet or exceed OSHA, ANSI and Canadian COHS standards.
“There were a lot of options,” says Zinke, “and they had exactly what we needed. The gates we chose could stop people from inadvertently going into the basement – and they could do it without a lot of noise.”
In fact, the Slam-Proof technology built into EdgeHalt gates was one of the product’s main selling points for Zinke and his team. They put in their order and soon one of the carpenters at CHI St. Alexius was replacing the old, heavy gates with new EdgeHalt gates. The improvement was noticeable immediately. “I really like the slick yellow look of the gates we got from PS Safety Access,” Zinke says. “You can tell they are an upgrade from our old gates.”
Best of all, the comments Zinke fielded regarding the stairwell gates quickly took on a different tone. “We started getting compliments almost immediately,” he says. “Staff noticed right away how much quieter they were than the old gates. The Slam-Proof feature on the EdgeHalt gates was the best part for us. We didn’t have to sacrifice usability for safety.”
When asked if he would recommend EdgeHalt gates to others, Zinke doesn’t hesitate. “I would definitely recommend PS Safety Access, and as we make improvements to other areas in our facility, I plan to work with them again. The process of getting the gates was easy, and they work just as we hoped they would.”
To learn more about PS Safety Access, visit www.pssafetyaccess.com or call 877-446-1519.