How Does A Tensabarrier? Keep Customers Safe?
Tensator Group
We have been leading the customer journey since 1881, providing queue management solutions to over 150 countries.
Everyone has a plan until they get whacked in the face by a retracting barrier.
Cheap queue barriers seem like a good idea at the time. After all, why would you spend more money than needed on something as simple as a queuing barrier?
On paper, low-cost products always appear to be a better choice when planning on a budget. However, the snags you hit will ultimately lead to you losing money rather than saving it. Cost-effective solutions rarely prepare your business for the future and often cannot survive the test of time.
However, unless you are an expert in retractable queue barriers like we are, it can be easy to miss the features which pose a risk to the people standing in line.
This article will go into detail about the originally?patented braking technology?featured in all Tensabarrier? products. Find out how this technology ensures your queue system continues to be a reliable member of your business.
Slow Your Roll
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. – Ferris Bueller."
Tensator? is the original inventor of the retractable queue barrier, and we have established ourselves as world leaders in barrier technology and products. The braking technology found in our webbing cassettes is the perfect example of our status as leaders in the industry.
A little-known fact about Tensator – our roots are actually in the automotive industry.
Why is this important?
Our products were designed originally to meet automotive reliability standards for seatbelts. From the very beginning high safety standards have been at our core.
Defining and refining. That is what we do.
The reliable braking system embedded within each Tensabarrier? posts ensures we continue to meet these high standards.
What Does It Do?
Simply put, the braking system allows the webbing to fall to the floor after release. So when you unclip the tape end, the webbing will not rocket away from you. Which means it won’t hit someone.
It seems simple, but you would be surprised by how many of our competitors allow the webbing to retract back to the cassette uncontrolled and at break-neck speed.
Think how quickly a carpenter's measuring tape returns to the case. Now imagine the same with a retractable belt on a queue barrier. With a hard plastic (or metal) tape end. On webbing designed to be flexible.
Tensator? have tested the webbing retraction of our competitors and found some reach speeds up to?85 miles per hour!
If nothing is reducing that speed, then let's hope whoever is on the other side of the post can dodge.
Poor Braking on Retraction
You won't need to worry about this with Tensabarrier? posts. When released, the webbing will retract to the post without the need for lightning-fast reflexes. Ensuring you avoid accidents and near-hit incidents on your business premises?helps prevent potential injury while maintaining guest satisfaction.
After all, the last thing you need is an accident to go viral because of a cheaper post. Sometimes, no news is good news.
Without the?basic safety features?found in Tensabarrier??posts, your retractable belt barrier could actually cause injury to guests and visitors.
Faster Webbing Retraction
Some queue barriers rocket back into their cassettes up to?2.5 seconds faster?than our?Tensabarrier? products. In Tensabarrier??webbing cassettes, the barrier slows down upon retraction. Without a braking system, nothing is in place to slow the webbing.
The faster webbing retracts, the higher the chances of injury to staff or bystanders. Essentially, it increases the likelihood of injury for anyone standing in the way.
This is where the braking system comes into effect. The braking technology built-in to the webbing cassettes ensures Tensabarrier? products have the slowest webbing retraction speed of any queue barrier product in the market.
This feature is what makes them the?safest in the market.
Slow and Steady
Low quality queue barriers also have a tendency to feature thinner webbing alongside inferior braking technology. The longer webbing, however, is actually a clever trick to convince buyers they need fewer posts. The result is a sub-standard barrier with much less resistance to everyday wear and tear.
Low-cost barriers will eventually force you to replace your queue barrier system as the thinner webbing wears faster than thicker webbing.
Quality of material + inferior braking system = unusable barriers + costly replacements.
Competitor barriers will retract faster than Tensator? products. Combined with the thinner webbing, the barrier will fray and become damaged sooner.?The initial lower price of your product, therefore, generates a false economy. You can end up paying to replace the webbing cassette or even the entire post!
Finally, due to the longer barrier and the frequent speed the webbing returns to the cassette, the spring is forced to work harder. As a result, it will wear out faster.
You will then be left with a weak spring and frayed webbing that doesn't fully retract to the cassette.
99 Problems But Webbing Retraction Ain’t One
441,000 working people sustained an injury at work according to the Labour Force Survey
There are many health and safety standards to which every business must conform. Doing so helps protect their workforce and customers from injury while protecting a business from potential liability and costly lawsuits.
By incorporating Tensabarrier? posts in your business you remove one area of exposure. The braking system will bring the webbing to a near halt. This stops the tape end too. So your staff will not need to face a flailing hard piece of plastic while closing up for the day.
Winding Things Back
To summarise: avoid implementing low-cost queue barriers in your business. Without the originally?patented braking system, you can find yourself searching for a replacement sooner than you think.
Equipping your business with a high-quality Tensabarrier? product ensures you have a future-proofed product designed to withstand the rigours of high footfall. Each one features a braking system which controls the return of the webbing when you are ready to take down your queue system.
The lower speeds and sudden inertia affecting the webbing will mean no injuries. Combined with?military-grade?webbing, your barrier has the potential to last decades.
Don’t believe us?
We recently retired a 15-year-old British Airways webbing cassette!
Not because it was broken, but because it was out of date. And in the world, there are posts and barriers even older than that.
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