17 May 2018

Full-door ligature alarm wins product innovation of the year


At Tuesday’s Design in Mental Health Network Awards, Safehinge Primera’s full-door ligature alarm won the coveted Product Innovation of Year award – with the judges commenting that it “will undoubtedly improve service user safety”.  

They said: “Safehinge Primera appear to have found a great solution for a long-standing problem – doors and ligature points.  They were selected not just for the product, but the time taken to research and then trial this solution.”

The product innovation category has been awarded to Safehinge Primera three times in five years –the original Symphony anti-barricade doorset winning in 2014 and the en-suite door with no known ligature points in 2017 – arguably confirming our position as the most innovative product design company in the Mental Health sector.

 

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Developing the full-door alarm

Led by product design engineer, Gus Thomas (left in image), the door alarm development has taken more than 15 months, with the original prototype displayed at the 2017 exhibition to gather voice of the customer (VOC) feedback.  Over the past twelve months, Gus and his team – which included Craig Easdale (right in image) – worked to develop the alarm in line with those customer requirements.  

Gus said, “Estate teams asked us to make the alarm wireless, to eliminate the disruption caused by installation of cabled door-top alarm systems as well as ongoing maintenance.  Clinical staff told us that a door-top alarm was only partially effective because it simply moved the ligature to another part of the door. When we spoke to architects, they asked what we could do to make it discreet to avoid institutional aesthetics.  

"Only through an iterative process with various stakeholders at each stage of development were we able to balance these conflicting requirements.”


DIMHN 2017: Early door alarm prototype                         DIHMN 2018:  Gus Thomas and Craig Easdale

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About the door alarm 

Turning the door into a big ‘weighing-scale’, it constantly checks the load across the whole door – not just the top – raising an alarm when there are significant changes to the load applied on the door.

Explore the door alarm

 

Our most successful DIMHN exhibition

We’re delighted to showcase our latest developments at DIMHN each year.  As a platform for sharing best practice and elevating the UK as a global leader in Mental Health design, it’s second to none.

Philip Ross, director and DIMHN board member, said: “This exhibition is the pinnacle of our calendar.  The breadth of people we meet, their insights and voice of customer (VOC) feedback are critical in helping make our products safer, practical to use and more homely.”

He added: “The response to the door alarm was incredible.  Everyone who witnessed it operating commented how simple and effective it was at achieving reducing the risk of ligatures on bedroom doors.”

The show also marked the completion of bringing Safehinge and Primera together.  The recent developments of the new handle with invisible backplate, and improvements to the override mechanism on our electronic lockset, Passport, demonstrate the benefits to our customers of the two companies joining – combining Primera’s patented locksets and experience in Mental Health ironmongery with Safehinge's award-winning product design.

We’re really excited to see the event moving next year to the Ricoh Arena, allowing us to expand our stand size and take the prestigious location at the entrance to the exhibition hall.  We’ll use the extra space to show next year’s product innovations, as well as expanding the space around each doorset.

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