Inherently Safer Car Parking with Automated Parking Systems

Safety and security are critical issues in the car parking industry. The proof being all the products and systems such as lighting, cameras, barriers, access control, sensors and security systems. However, these and similar measures simply attempt to minimize risks and hazards.

The chemical processing industry utilizes a concept called “inherently safer design” (ISD) to eliminate risks and hazards instead of controlling them. Such holistic, commonsense and safer designs already are being applied in the car parking industry, but they aren’t often recognized for such important attributes. ISD means removing risks and hazards through better design to make protection systems that are subject to failure and malfunction unnecessary.

For example, if you build a house in an area prone to flooding, you could manage the risk by building a dike to keep the floodwater out. Alternatively, you could forgo the dike, but add a warning system to enable your family to move to higher ground in the event of a flood. That wouldn’t protect your house, but theoretically keeps your family safe. An inherently safer design would be to build the house above the flood level. This eliminates the need for all other flood protection solutions.

Inherently safer design in the car parking industry requires removing people from the risks and hazards involved with driving, parking and being in the car parking area. This is exactly what automated parking systems (APS) do. They eliminate the majority of hazards and risks in parking facilities by preventing people from accessing the areas where cars are parked. If people aren’t driving and parking in the car parking area those risks are eliminated. If people can’t get into the parking area, the risk of crimes against people and cars and other hazards are eliminated.

Like the example of moving the house to a higher elevation to avoid floods, automated parking systems take people out of the parking area and the parking process…eliminating a variety of risks and hazards. By designing out the risks and hazards, APS eliminate the need for many expensive safety and security measures such as video surveillance, guard patrols, access barriers and control systems, additional lighting, special fire protection systems, etc.

While features such as small size and flexible application attract people to automated parking systems, it’s important and worthwhile to recognize that APS provide inherently safer designs at no extra cost. This puts an entirely different spin on safety and security for the car parking industry.

-Richard Denzler, CEO

About Skyline Parking AG

Skyline Parking AG designs and supplies the most space-efficient and fastest fully automated parking systems. Skyline’s systems provide high returns while being an environmentally and user-friendly answer to the growing scarcity and cost of urban space, worldwide. The broad range of products, means that Skyline Parking has a solution for virtually any location, problem and requirement.