Very safe. In fact, since 1993, every garage door opener has had a three-stage safety system. The first stage is the beam created by the infrared sensors. They are mounted on both sides, near the door track, 4-6 inches from the floor. This system will cause a closing door to reverse, without touching the object, when the infrared beam is broken. The second stage is the contact reversing system. If the door makes contact with an object while going down, it will reverse and go back up. Finally, a cycle completion occurs (within 30 seconds) if the down limit or the reversing system were to fail.