A 59-year-old truck driver has died after being crushed by a falling gate at a Dandenong South depot – in Australia.

The lesson that should be learnt from this and many other similar automated gate accidents and fatalities is that any gate – whether swing or sliding – should always be constructed in such a manner, such that the failure of one component will never lead to the gate failing, and ultimately falling.

This tragic case is almost certainly an example of single-point failure and therefore the accident could easily have been prevented. Manufacturers have a responsibility to step up and review their designs to eliminate this risk.