What would we do without our garages?  Where would we put our extra “stuff“?

As handy as they are, they can also pose safety and security challenges. Following garage door safety guidelines is a crucial part in ensuring your safety when operating your garage door.

Follow these tips, some of which include maintenance check. The Overhead Door Corporation has prepared this list of garage door safety tips for keeping everyone and everything safe and secure.

1. Consult the owner’s manual and make sure you know how to use the emergency release feature.
2. General safety rules, never let children play with garage door remote controls and make sure they stay away from the door while it is opening and closing.
3. Make sure the garage door opener control button is installed high enough, so not accessible to small children.
4. Never place fingers between door sections and explain the dangers to children. If you have small children, consider a door with panels that can’t pinch.
5. Once a month, inspect the garage door. Check for signs of wear on the springs, cables, rollers and pulleys. Never attempt to remove, adjust or repair these parts or anything attached to them. Call a  qualified garage door professional to make adjustments or replace these parts.  These parts are under high tension and can cause serious injury.  A general rule, you should always replace both springs, even if one is still ok.
6. Also, once a month,  test the garage door opener’s reversing mechanism. To do this, place a 2 x 4 board or a roll of paper towels in the door’s path. If the door does not reverse after contacting the object, call a qualified garage door professional for repair.
7. Leaving the door  partially open is not only a safety issue, but also a home security issues as well.
8. While out of town, it’s always a good idea to unplug the garage door opener unit or use a vacation lock console security switch. This will make the remote unusable. It’s usually an optional accessory on most openers.
9. Some openers come with rolling-code technology, this feature changes the access codes each time the opener is used to prevent code grabbing.  This feature is usually standard on newer models.
10.  Never leave the remote control in your car. A new trend in home invasion is gaining access to the home by stealing the opener or car. Consider using a key chain remote and always lock the entry to the inside of your home.

Resource:  http://garages.about.com/od/garagemaintenance/a/GarageSafety.htm