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Four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000 and New Zealand’s own, Greg Murphy is a proud Merlin ambassador. As a professional race car legend, Greg knows a thing or two about risky situations – like flying around the racetrack at 300km/h.
Greg also understands that there are safety risks in everything we do – from running to the grocery store, to kicking the footy around, to entering and exiting your home through your garage.
Garage and driveway safety is no joke, and accidents at home can happen in a flash. Injuries in these high-risk areas are on the rise and in 2020 alone there were 1,370 driveway accidents and 1,094 garage related accidents resulted in hospitalisations in New Zealand[1].
With a shared value of safety, we sat down with Greg Murphy to learn his tips on managing risks at home.
What does safety mean to you?
To me, safety means being acutely aware of the potential hazards and risks in anything that you do.
Just because something appears dangerous, doesn’t mean it has to be. Look at my career for example; people will see car racing as extremely high-risk. They see the speed and automatically think it’s unsafe.
What I see, however, is a controlled environment. Due to the preparation we take and the strict safety standards that all our equipment and processes meet, I see my career as safe as any other.
Safety is all about assessing the situation, even if it’s just mundane, everyday activities, like walking the dog or heading out to work.
For me, safety begins at home – and the best way to start is to ensure you and the family have good safety behaviours and invest in the right safety technology.
What are examples of good safety behaviours?
Paying attention is my number one must for safety behaviours at home – which I know sounds simple, but in this digital age, it’s not always the case.
It only takes one person to not be paying attention for an accident to happen. The kids could be coming home from school, plugged into their tech and in their own world, and you could be running late and hurrying out of the house.
This can be a recipe for disaster. It’s so important to never let your guard down, especially around high-risk areas such as the driveway and garage – always be aware of where the kids and pets are before moving in and around the garage.
Teaching and demonstrating good safety behaviours go hand in hand with having the right safety technology.
How can safety technology help to remove risks?
At my home when the kids were younger, the garage was used to store all the kids’ toys and bikes, as well as my motorbikes and all my gear. I would also use it as a workspace when doing up my car, so there was always a lot going on in there.
As a result, the family would spend a lot of time in and around the garage. This is a common trend for many of us. Our garages have become multi-purpose and used for anything, from a DIY workshop to an at-home gym.
What I love about Merlin is that it considers the risks and potential hazards that your garage might pose and develops the technology to make your home a controlled environment to keep the family safe.
Technology such as Safety Beams are great tools to help protect the family in the garage. If the beams detect a child, pet or even a toy while your garage door is closing, it will immediately reverse before even making contact. Merlin’s myQ App, furthers this security by allowing you to monitor and control your garage door movements from your smartphone.
Everything we do each day has some element of risk, so by combining the right safety equipment with safe behaviours, you can help to manage your family’s level of risk.
What are your top tips for garage and driveway safety?
- Plan, plan, plan. By having the right preparation in place, you can stop accidents before they happen.
- Stay aware! Don’t assume that everyone else around you will be paying attention, always triple check that the driveway is clear before pulling out.
- Invest in the right garage technology that puts your family’s safety first.
To learn more about Greg Murphy and Merlin click here.
For more information about Merlin’s range of garage door openers and accessories, visit our website or call 0800 653 667.
[1] Ministry of Health’s National Minimum Dataset (NMDS) 2020-21