MediTek Stairlifts Safety Policy

Safety Policy

MEDITEK HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY
It is the policy of MediTek to achieve and maintain the highest standard of safety and health for its employees and to conduct the company's activities with appropriate safeguards, against exposing the general public to risk to their safety and health.

To this end, the management accepts the obligation to reduce the incidence of accidents, near misses, dangerous occurrences and hazards to safety and health particularly by the following methods.

1. Make the working environment as safe and healthy as reasonably practicable.
2. Combating such hazards as cannot be completely eliminated by making available protective clothing and equipment and providing adequate first-aid facilities.
3. Supplementing 1 and 2 by ensuring there is adequate training with due regard to safety and that the employees are made aware of their special responsibilities of safe working.
4. The MediTek will ensure the collection of up to date information on the toxicity and potential hazards of all substances used by the company.
5. MediTek will limit exposure to and, where necessary, monitor the use of substances hazardous to the health as an ongoing priority. Particular care will be taken with the introduction of new substances and the risks will be assessed as required.
6. Seeking the active involvement of all employees in the company's effort to promote safety and health.
7. Always considering actual and potential risk to customers and to the general public caused by the company's operations alongside those of the company's own employees.
8. Will hold regular joint consultation meetings with employees to improve and implement suggestions.
9. It is the aim to continually improve the Health and Safety of all employees of MediTek.
Date 15 June 1998

D. NICHOLSON

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Design Features

All MediTek stairlifts incorporate the following design features to maximise personal safety:
(a)	Heavy-duty bronze gearwheels within self-sustaining, self-locking cast steel gearboxes hold the stairlift firmly in place wherever it is positioned on the drive rack
(b)	Rack and pinion is used to drive the stairlift along the track, not vulnerable ropes or cables
(c)	A motor-mounted electro-magnetic fail-safe brake stops the stairlift safely and holds it in place
(d)	A mechanical over-speed detector activates a steel serrated cam (see picture) that physically locks into the aluminium track to stop the stairlift. Additionally, high quality normally-closed, positive break limit switches disengage the drive motor and release the electro-magnetic brake, stopping the lift in the event of it exceeding designed speed.
(e)	An Interlock switch mounted underneath the seat ensures that the lift will not move until the seat is correctly positioned and locked into position.
(f)	Pressure-sensitive edges controlled by a high quality, normally closed positive break limit switches prevent the lift continuing to move should anything obstruct the movement of the stairlift. These pressure sensitive edges are located on all leading edges beneath the stairlift.
(g)	The stairlifts are designed to STOP, not GO using a specially designed electronic control board for this purpose. Clients using the lift are required to over-ride the STOP function using either a manual toggle switch or remote control unit. If either of these controls is released, the lift will stop.
(h)	Three levels of protection ensure the absolute safety of a moving stairlift:
	(i) Firstly, there are high-quality, normally closed, positive break limit switches to detect the end of travel at the top and bottom of the stairs.
	(ii) Secondly, there are independent, normally closed, positive break limit switches to cut off the motor and engage the fail-safe brake.
	(iii) Finally, the driving rack is deliberately cut short at the top of the stairway to prevent the stairlift physically driving off the end of the track.
(i)	All stairlifts are electrically isolated from potentially hazardous 240 volts AC mains, and run from 24v DC batteries, ensuring the stairlift is electrically safe.
(j)	There are no sharp edges anywhere on the stairlift, and padding is used on the seat and back rest.
(k)	A seat belt (similar to those used in cars) is fitted to the stairlift.
(l)	Surveying, installation and maintenance of the stairlifts are carried out by solely by MediTek trained and authorized distributors.

Safety Standards

All MediTek products fully comply with the following standards:
(a)	British Standard BS5776
(b)	Australian Standard AS1735.7
(c)	Full European CE certification through compliance with:
	(i) Electro-magnetic Directive 89/336/EEC
	(ii) Low Voltage Directive 73/23/EEC

Risk Assessment

As an example of our comittment to safety, MediTek belives heavily in Risk Assessment as a significant cornerstone of a safe working environment. All MediTek staff are actively involved in the safety process by observing the following risk assessment procedures:
STEP 1 LOOK FOR THE HAZARD .	Walk round your workplace and look afresh at what could reasonable be expected to cause harm. Ignore the trivial and concentrate only on significant hazards which could result in serious harm or affect several people. Ask your work mates what they think. They may have noticed things which are not immediately obvious. Manufacturer�s instructions or data sheets can also help you to spot hazards and put risks in their true perspective.
STEP 2 DECIDE WHO MIGHT BE HARMED .	Think about people who may not be in the factory all the time, installers, agents, and the general public who buy stairlifts.
STEP 3 EVALUATE THE RISKS .	After establishing the hazards then an evaluation of the risks must occur deciding whether existing precautions are adequate or more should be done. Can I get rid of the hazard altogether? Can I control the risk so that harm is unlikely?
STEP 4 RECORD YOUR FINDINGS .	Write down your significant hazards, record conclusions (Secretary is available if required). Assessments need to be suitable and sufficient not perfect. The main points are: Are precautions reasonable? Is there something to show that a proper check has been made?
STEP 5 REVIEW YOUR ASSESSMENT AND REVISE IF IT IS NECESSARY .	If there is any significant change you should add to the assessment to take account any new hazard, or change. (The owners of MediTek will allow paid time to undertake the above.)