ASSA ABLOY

Carroll County Health Department Installs Touchless Switches on Facility Doors to Curb Germ Transmission

Carly Holtzschue -

BACKGROUND

The Carroll County Health Dept. (CCHD) in Westminster, Maryland collaborates with community partners to promote public health and wellness. Among other services, the public facility offers a children’s dental clinic, cancer screening, vaccinations, and reproductive health care.

THE CHALLENGE

CCHD is both a business and public facility. When COVID hit, we never closed our doors,” said Ms. Amanda Haugh, CCHD Administrator. “We wanted to do everything possible to protect the health of employees and visitors to our facility, so we outlined a plan to allocate federal pandemic assistance funds to replace light fixtures with automatic sensors, install automatic flushers on toilets as well as hands-free faucets in all bathrooms and the kitchen. We also explored the feasibility of installing wave-to-open switches on exterior and interior doors to enable touchless door operation throughout the building.” The question was: were touchless doors affordable and could they be integrated with CCHD’s existing access control and security system?

THE SOLUTION

CCHD contacted Able Locksmiths, LLC of Frederick, MD who, along with their integrator partner, Westminster Security Co., provided project specifications, a budgetary estimate, and an installation timeline. Chris Christie, owner of Able Locksmiths, explained, “Norton Rixson 6300 low-energy door operators with wave sensing switches were the ideal solution for this project. This facility has storefront-style doors and wood doors with hollow metal frames – all of which have only 2.25 inches of clearance above the door frame. Because the 6300 operators have such a slim profile, they fit easily above the door and coordinated nicely with the door frames. And the wave switches can be adjusted to sense anywhere from 4 to 24 inches to screen out incidental traffic.” Ms. Haugh said, “We had no idea of the cost of this technology, so we originally requested to automate two of our facility’s exterior doors. When we received the estimate, we happily realized we could afford to automate many more doors. And, in the end, we were able to install wave-to-open switches on 20 exterior and interior doors. That meant we would be able to halt door-related germ transmission throughout our entire facility.”

Christie said, “Much of what made this solution so affordable was our ability to install the openers and switches so quickly. Because the door operator units are extremely lightweight and come with a heavy-duty back plate that serves as a template, one installer was able to mount all 20 door operators and switches in just two days.”

Two Westminster Security integrators then wired all operators and wave-to-open switches into the facility’s access control system, which includes card readers, electromechanical door locking devices, and fire alarm control panels.

“The entire process was so smooth because communication between Able Locksmiths, Westminster Security, ASSA ABLOY/Norton Rixson, and CCHD was excellent, so everyone knew exactly what they needed to do and there were no surprises.”

“Now our employees simply flash their card toward the card reader to get into the building and then, as we’re moving throughout the building and our hands are full, we just wave a hand and the door opens automatically. All exit doors are also enabled with wave-to-open switches.”

When asked how employees and visitors have reacted to the changes, Amanda said, “For me, I knew it was a success when no one said anything. There were no complaints about anything! What’s more, the county facility down the road is in the process of installing the same Norton Rixson door operators and wave-to-open switches so that’s a powerful vote of confidence.”

Wave switches are the ideal solution to prevent germ transmission caused by touching doors. With 6300 Series low energy operators, which has one of the slimmest profiles in the industry so they fit easily above exterior and interior doors, you can minimize transmissable germs in your facility without compromising on aesthetics.

Benefits of Norton Rixson 6300 Series door operators with wave-to-open switches

  • Wave Sense Switches feature motion-sensing technology for hands-free, contactless door activation
  • Slim operator profile blends seamlessly with frame
  • Low profile easily fits applications with minimal header space
  • Modular, four-piece design allows for one-person installation
  • Unit learns door properties during installation for easy programming and set-up

Typical installations include:

  • Schools and Universities
  • Office Buildings
  • Hospitals
  • Medical Facilities
  • Theaters
  • Retail Stores
  • Banks

Form more details on our to create touchless environments in your facility, check out our Touchless Solutions resource hub.