British
Standards: BS5776:1996
This
standard is primarily concerned with stairlifts installed in domestic
premises in the United Kingdom. I'm not going to bore you to death
with BS standards, though i could and so could anyone else who
has studied the Stairlift Technology course at the University
of Northampton 70% of the course seems to cover the BS5776 standard
Note:
codes of practice and technical specifications are
updated occasionally. These references may be out of date by the
time they are read and are shown as examples
Stairlift
Safety Features
In a
nutshell any stairlift manufacturer installer in the UK has to
conform to the BS5776 standard. Obviously some stairlift manufactures
use this as an extra sales pitch? Our stairlifts incorporate an
OSG Safety Gear Mechanism? Our stairlifts have safety edges on
the carriage and footplate bla bla bla...
The
good news is! If your living in the UK you can be assured that
your stairlift is completely safe if purchased from a reputable
company and installed by qualified stairlift engineers. Lets have
a look at the standard features you should get from any stairlift
supplier
Stairlift
OSG overspeed governor (BS5776)
This
device monitors the speed of a stairlift! Typical travel speed
for domestic straight stairlifts range between 0.07-
0.15 meters per second (30 feet per minute 0.34 miles per hour)
Should the OSG mechanism detect any over-speed
the centrifugal force causes the osg cams to fly out and in turn
release the safety gear jaw which instantaneously clamps to the
stairlift rail and disconnects the motor drive power bringing
the stairlift to an abrupt holt
Stairlift
Safety Edges (BS5776)
To conform
to BS5776 all stairlift should have safety edges on the stairlift
carriage! Top of the carriage / Up direction and Bottom of the
carriage / Down Direction see Fig1A
Footplate
Safety Edges
Safety
Edge switches protect the stairlift user and non users from accidental
entrapment of the footplate. Should any of the safety edges be
operated in any direction the stairlift will automatically stop.
The stairlift user will not be able to continue in the desired
direction until the obstruction has been removed. The stairlift
will allow the user to return to the original traveling direction
Top or Bottom whichever the case may be? See
Fig1A
Stairlift
Seatbelts (BS5776)
All
stairlifts must have a seatbelt fitted to comply with BS5776 Standards.
Point to remember! during my years as a stairlift engineer i have
been asked to attend households where the stairlift user has claimed
to have fallen off / Out of the stairlift? On all occasions the
stairlifts were fitted with seatbelts! Obviously the stairlift
users were not wearing their seatbelt. Trying to claim compensation
against anyone is a non starter (Fact if your wearing the provided
seatbelt you can not fall off) See Fig2A
Stairlift
Seat Swivel
Seat
swivel allows easy dismount without the need to twist the body
or legs. Once
the stairlift seat is swiveled it automatically locks into position
allowing the user to safely dismount from the stairlift. The stairlift
drive circuitry is isolated when the seat is in the swivel position.
The stairlift will not move until the seat swivel is locked back
into its safe traveling mode See Fig3A
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