Older adults are far more likely to suffer serious injury because of an accident than people in younger age brackets, so all possible measures should be taken to reduce the chance of falls in care homes.
Care home residents are especially at risk of falls from open windows, particularly if they have impaired mobility or cognitive function. This is why window restrictors are essential, as they are effective at preventing falls from windows by reducing the size of the window opening to 100mm.
What factors should you consider when specifying window restrictors for windows in care homes?
1. Quality
Purchasing cheap window restrictors will certainly save money upfront, so it is understandable that care home managers may seek to cut costs during times of economic stress. However, investing less is unlikely to provide the level of safety required to prevent serious accidents, such as falls from windows. Cheap window restrictors may not have undergone the stringent British Standards tests that are necessary to guarantee their strength and resilience, so paying more will help cohere to safety measures far more than a lesser investment.
2. Security
Window restrictors prevent accidental falls from windows by restricting the space through which a person can climb or fall, and they can also be instrumental in cutting burglary rates. Windows without restrictors, or fitted with poor-quality devices, are more vulnerable to crime, as intruders will be able to gain easy entry by simply unscrewing or cutting through the restrictor. A Jackloc window restrictor, in comparison, is incredibly difficult to remove in a hurry, so incorporating these into your care home’s asset management model for windows and doors will help to keep residents safe in more ways than one.
3. Maintenance
Over time, window restrictors wear and become less efficient, so investing in a high-quality product will delay the deterioration of these devices and prevent premature failure. A weak window restrictor, or one that is constructed from substandard materials, will wear more quickly or even break under pressure. This will increase the risk of an accident, especially if the restrictor fails suddenly and a resident or staff member is caught unawares.
4. Compliance
Care homes must comply with an extensive range of laws and regulations relating to workplace and building safety. There must, for example, be a minimum of 800mm from the floor to the bottom edge of the window opening, while window restrictors should comply with BS 13126:2001 by being capable of withstanding a force of 350 Newtons. Jackloc cable window restrictors exceed these requirements and are independently assessed to hold over four times the British Standards minimum when fitted to steel, aluminium, and timber frames.
Improve Your Care Home Residents’ Safety With Jackloc Window Restrictors
Mila Maintenance is an approved installer of Jackloc window restrictors, the strongest safety devices of their type on the market, and rigorously tested to British safety standards. To find out more, or to request a free, no-obligation quotation, please call us on 0808 100 8881.
Image Source: Canva
