Hardware design/installation
However, the client still required a clear opening of 1,000 mm. To address this, we proposed a door with a
larger, single leaf. Aided by market-leading fire evidence, each leaf is 1,100 mm, providing a clear opening of 1,050 mm – more than enough for a patient and two members of staff. It also means that beds can be moved in and out, which was a Trust requirement.
AVOIDING ‘DECANTING’ Critical to the Mersey Care solution was the need to keep rooms available while work was carried out. Traditionally, service-users are ‘decanted’ from their bedrooms so that doors can be replaced over a period of sometimes 24 hours or more. This was not going to be possible, so our two-hour installation time afforded by the SWIFTfit frame was vital in the selection of our doorsets. Jeremy Young explains: “Using our doorset, we managed to install all 40 doorsets at the Broadoak Unit without service-users being decanted from their rooms. This was a huge consideration, as the demand for mental health services means there are rarely any disused rooms that Trusts can move service-users into while work is carried out.”
Once the team has identified design needs, such as the leaf-and-a-half doorsets, it is important for us that the team-members go through our product launch process, which involves numerous tests and a ‘soft launch’ period to make sure that we at Safehinge are comfortable with product performance and suitability before clients use them in live environments. It is this rigorous process which further
reduces disruption during installation, because we finesse our products for real-world problems. For example, our ALUmax pivot hinge has on-site adjustability, which can considerably speed up installation. This adjustability is vertical, so the user or installer can both set desired floor clearance and ensure fire compliance.
TWELVE DIFFERENT TESTS We put all of our products through 12 different tests, while current industry guidance picks up on just two or three. This is an extremely thorough test process carried out ‘in-house’ and videoed, so that any claims can be proven. In some cases, we perform tests on request from clients who want to verify a particular doorset configuration.
Our in-house testing includes vertical load, static torsion, heavy body impact, and slam shut tests. We also carry out kick testing, leg press testing, and all standard Department of Health regimes and TS001 anti-ligature trials. It is important to us that our products are
comprehensively tested in this way so that we don’t have any issues on site. To further iron out problems with installation, we soft launch our products by carrying out a handful of ‘installs’ in various locations, using various installers to get feedback. Again, this process identifies and allows us to eliminate the sources of disruption in live environments. While lot of manufacturers fit products that we would class as a prototype into a live mental health environment, this is not our approach.
The quality of the doorsets ‘is only as good as the installation’. Working for Mersey Care, Anti-Ligature Solutions finished the project to a high standard – as these ‘close-ups’ show.
CONFIDENCE IN THE PRODUCT By the time that we offer our products to customers to use in ‘live’ environments, they have been methodically and rigorously tested in a series of mechanical and abuse scenarios. As a result, our customers can be truly confident in every product, and know that each is safe, secure, non-institutional, robust, and easy to use and maintain. Our rigorous pre-launch testing also gives installers the confidence that the product will work as designed, and can be installed – and indeed used – as expected. At Safehinge we feel so passionately about this that, as a member of the Design In Mental Health Network board, I am currently taking the lead on testing and accreditation. I want to create a national set of standards that everyone can use. These will be based around some of the
in-depth testing that we already carry out at Safehinge. This move would prevent the current situation where every organisation insists on different testing regimes, which creates a lot of cost. This, in turn, inflates the price of products, delays decision-making, and restricts product innovation.
A SET OF NATIONAL STANDARDS Having a set of national standards will enable organisations to make decisions on the best products in the shortest period of time. It also enables them to better compare products, and spend more time choosing those that will help the most in terms of creating an environment for recovery.
After an in-depth design and testing process, of course, attention then turns to the installation phase. The Mersey Care scheme previously described underlines the importance that Safehinge places on the ease of installation of all its products. For example, with a two-hour installation time, the SWIFTfit metal frame minimises disruption to service-users, and the robust metal frame further enhances the strength of the door – protecting it from abuse, and extending its lifespan. It is manufactured off site to size in two parts, which fit together into the structural opening. This means that there is no cutting timber on site, reducing the time needed to install, and preventing any weakness to the door that could result from on-site altercations.
Because the casing can be ordered to any size, it can be manufactured to be wide enough to cover any damage left by removing the existing doorset. So, in the case of a refurbishment – which is a common occurrence in the current mental health sector – there is no need to repair damage to a wall when a timber frame has been removed. All that is covered by the new metal casing.
There are no visible fixings on the bedroom side of a Symphony doorset, and the handle and thumb-turn are the only metal elements.
SECURE AND SOLID FIXING The doorsets can be ordered in a range of colours, and are many times stronger than
THE NETWORK OCTOBER 2016 25
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