Upholstery manufacturer launches 'safest electric rise and recline chair in production'

20th August 2009 | upholstery | North west chair manufacturer Royams claims to have upstaged rivals with a sensor based system that helps prevent people or objects becoming trapped underneath rise and recline chairs as they descend.

The system is the latest to meet British Standard BS8474, introduced in 2006 after the earlier death of a child who was crushed under the weight of a reclining chair manufactured by a now defunct firm.

The accident prompted widespread change in the rise and recline manufacturing sector - and was the start of a process that eventually led to the publication of BS8474 six years later. The Quality Standard can be met in two ways, through sensors that detect potential obstructions, or using a guarded mechanism, that prevents potentially dangerous parts being exposed to users.

Royams director Tracey Mayor says it 'protects each part of the chair from serious entrapment with a series of sensors and covers on all exposed parts.'

She said that in conjunction with its other safety features, the firm believed it 'makes the Protexa chair the safest electric rise and recline chair in production.'