INNOVATION NEWSPAPER 2023

It goes without saying that safety in general is essential. If we don’t emphasize the importance of child-safe environments, then who are we actually protecting? Tables have corner bumpers, cars have parental locks and we secure stairs with safety gates. And outside? That’s where Locinox comes in. A child’s curiosity knows no boundaries, which is why those boundaries need to be determined. Keeping children out of a dangerous situation is one aspect, keeping them inside a safe one is another. Knowing that they don’t escape the school ground, wander away from the playground or pop out of the neighbourhood park? A fence does most of the work, but a child-safe lock provides the finishing touch. On either side of the gate, the GUARDIMA is our solution for these situations. Installed on the inside to keep children from leaving the property, or on the outside to prevent them from entering places they shouldn’t. At 1,500 mm above the ground, it’s completely out of reach for children under the age of 5. The obstacle of pulling the latch up, with at 20 N resistance force, is the secondary security measure. The strongest magnetic force in the market assures sturdy closure in the keep. To make things easier for manufacturers and installers, we added our characteristic modularity for traditional situations with a 40 mm wide profile. The child-safe GUARDIMA fits in the same installation pattern as our surface mounted locks, so any standard gate can easily be upgraded to a child-safe one. Of course, all of the above is irrelevant if the gate is open more often than not. That’s why the combination of a child-safe lock with a self-closing mechanism is highly recommended. This perfect match guarantees that the gate closes after every passage and children will not be able to open it. The 180° CARACAL (see page 9) with adjustable closing speed is the recent gate closer addition to our child safety range. NF P 90-306 The combination of GUARDIMA and our TIGER gate closer was declared to comply with the requirements of the French NF P 90-306. This norm belongs to the French Standardization Association AFNOR and determines the protective elements for pools for individual or collective use. Safety is a broad concept in the fencing and gate industry. There are specific products for different uses in various situations and locations. Some of these have to answer certain rules and regulations, such as swimming pool safety. Only a few countries have established clear laws with restrictive measures when it comes to private pools. Australia, France and United States are pioneers in a matter that is far from reaching its full potential. At Locinox, we look for ways to embed every different regulation into one particular product. Considering that children are the main focal point of these rules, there’s no reason to stop at pools. They deserve protection anywhere and anytime. In more ways than one, our child-safe GUARDIMA and FORTIMA are ideal for parks, playgrounds, pools and schools. AUSTRALIAN STANDARD Since mid-20th century Australian local governments have been defining the situations in which fencing is obliged. Since the Swimming Pool Act of 1990, the requirements of child-resistant barriers have been noted in local applicable versions of Australian Standard AS 1926.1 - Safety Barriers for Swimming Pools. One clear objective is to protect children under the age of 5 in the absence of adult supervision. Specifically, fences with minimal height requirements of 1200 mm should be fitted with self-closing devices that return the gate to a locked situation. This should happen without manual force or operating of the latch, which is at least 1500 mm above ground level. FRENCH AFNOR France already had more than one million private swimming pools in 2017, so it’s no surprise that it is Europe’s leading force in pool safety. In 2003, French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin proposed a law. Every pool should be secured by at least one safety measure answering the AFNOR standards, with penalties up to 45,000 euro. AFNOR, NF P90-306 determines that safety barriers should include a locking mechanism that can’t be used by children, either at 1100 mm high or with two separate unlocking actions. USA & CANADA As opposed to the abovementioned countries, USA and Canada do not have a national set of rules. Instead, there are different rules and regulations between the individual states, cities and even counties. However, there are a few requirements that find common ground. Fences must have adequate distances from other climbable structures, have restricted openings, indentations or protrusions. The obliged outward swinging gates must be equipped with a locking device and should be self-closing and self-latching. These latches are to be installed at a minimum of 1370 mm high measured from the bottom of the gate. TURNING CHILD SAFETY INTO CHILD’S PLAY WHEN POOL-SAFETY BECOMES CHILD-SAFETY SCHOOLS POOLS PLAYGROUNDS AMUSEMENT PARKS DOG PARKS PARKS As opposed to the GUARDIMA being mounted on the gate itself, the FORTIMA is our magnetic child- safe option installed on the fixed post. This is commonly applied in North-America, Australia and New-Zealand. The FORTIMA can be considered as an alternative to GUARDIMA to reduce the load on gate wings that are attached by lighter duty hinges. YEAR 3 WARRANTY -30° +70° C CYCLES 2M QUICK-FIX 8