Nursery gate padlocked

[Guest LauFo]

My child’s council nursery in Edinburgh has started padlocking the garden gate so no parents/visitors etc can access for child safety which I understand however....this is the route they would take once out the building and then through the playground to the fire assembly point. Should this playground gate be padlocked during nursery time does anyone know?

Many thanks

[Crusher]

This is the age old 'security v safety' dilemma. I agree that the gate should be secured in some way; however it is also important to guard against unauthorised entry. My own recommendation is that a good quality combination lock is fitted, to which all staff have the code. Also, I suggest that the numbers are all the same i.e. 9999, or similar. Resorting to a key is not robust enough, as the key may be in the building whilst everyone is out in the garden.

[Tom Sutton]

As a fire exit it should be able to open without the need of a key during the time the premises are open. There is a number of ways this can be achieved by being able to open the gate from the inside without a key and requiring a key to open from the outside.