Door Interlocking System for Pharmaceuticals – Why Is It Needed?

Hygiene and sanitation are two of the paramount fundamentals of running a pharmaceutical unit or hospital. Regular checks of safety and cleanliness equipment, necessary revision of hygiene protocols, periodic training regarding sanitary practices, etc. make up for the smooth and safe functioning of such premises. Besides the common areas and offices, sections like storage rooms, laboratories, and cleanrooms in a pharma unit require an extreme level of protection from contaminants and unnecessary entries and exits. To achieve that, a door interlocking system for pharma and research establishments is needed.

What is a door interlocking system?

A door interlocking system contains two doors that are interconnected where one door cannot open until the other is closed. This is done to maintain the air pressure or hygiene of the designated area.

How does interlock work?

A door interlocking system for pharma units provides very high levels of access control and access management. Interlocks control the locking of two or more doors, therefore, if one door is open or unlocked, the remaining doors remain locked, refusing access until the first one is locked and secured.

Each door in the door interlocking system is electronically monitored and controlled. The people passing through these doors can either unlock them by using RFID or proximity cards, or use push buttons or touch switches fitted beside the doors.

A basic framework has a 2 door interlock system, and maybe a 3-door interlock system in some cases. But there can be provisions to extend this number up to 8. Individual doors can be controlled either by a standalone controller or an interlock controller.

Spectra Door Interlocking System – DIT 200, DIT 400, and DIT 800 can manage up to 2, 4, and 8 doors respectively. Download the brochure to know the door interlock system specification.

What are the types of interlocking?

Air Lock Door Interlocking System

These systems are mostly needed in places where a low-security system can fulfill the requirements.

The doors under this system are kept unlocked by default, and opening one of the doors will lock the related doors so that only one door, in a designated area, can be accessed at a time. These doors are not interlinked with each other so it is possible to open two or more doors simultaneously.

Secure Entry/Free Egress Door Interlocking System

This is a comparatively more secure system with easier egress i.e., exit protocol. The external doors under this system are in a locked state whereas the internal doors are unlocked. Entries are controlled from the external doors where a card reader or switch will trigger the system. Unlocking the external door will lock the door inside.

Once the external door is locked again, the internal door will get unlocked to allow access into the establishment. At the time of exit, the external door will only open when the previous internal door is secured shut.

Restricted Entry and Exit Door Interlocking System

This system is used when you need the highest level of security. Users are required to use their access credentials every time while entering or exiting from a door under this system. The reason why this system provides the highest level of security is that when one door is unlocked, all the others remain locked unless requested access.

This way, the processes of entry and exit occur one after the other.

How do you install an interlock door?

Choosing a door interlocking system depends on various factors like the application area, flow of people, the type of assets held within the facility, and current and future security threats. The parameters for each installation vary greatly as per the client’s specific security objectives. In most cases, a design consultant, systems integrator, or access control system provider is appointed with analyzing the area, design, and installation specifics.

Benefits of Door Interlocking System for Pharma

A door interlocking system is one of the best solutions to exercise access control in regulated environments. The main reasons why the pharma sector needs such a system are:

• To attain international standards for the Indian pharmaceutical sector
• To clear the mandatory audit and approval standards for drug manufacturers and exporters
• To increase awareness and adoption of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices)
• To maintain high sanitation standards for the cleanroom for manufacturing

The functional concept of an interlock is to prevent two doors from being opened at the same time, preventing air or contaminants from passing from one space directly into the other. In that regard, we can look at the following benefits that the pharma and health industries gain from installing a door interlocking system:

• Reduce contamination from areas with high volumes of traffic
• Reduce costs of extra manpower and maintenance
• Minimize micro-biological and particulate contamination
• Maintain airflow and pressurization in the airlock/change room
• Enable protection from intrusions like ballistic and blast attacks
• Detect and prevent multiple and/or unauthorized access attempts

Upgrade Safety and Security with a Door Interlocking System

There are various commercial and industrial applications for door interlocks where the owners can fortify the security and safety of their premises in an even better way. A door interlocking system for pharma companies, hospitals, and research centers proves to be a highly effective solution for security and environmental control.

Being in the access control and identity management space for over two decades, Spectra has gained valuable insight into security requirements across various industries. To know about other solutions from Spectra for the pharma and research sector, click here.