Can Fall Protection Products Increase Mobility and Safety?


The changes our elderly loved ones experience as they age can often be very difficult both emotionally and physically. The increased doctor appointments often coupled with decreased independence and mobility can be supremely frustrating and stressful for seniors.

Family members and caregivers are often faced with the difficult task of keeping seniors safe while respecting their desire for independence. The difficulty of this is greatly multiplied when the elderly loved one suffers from a lack of physical mobility and requires the use of a walker, wheel chair, or other wheeled device.

SmartCells Fall Protection products easily allow wheel chairs to roll across the surface.

A study conducted by the University of California San Francisco and the Disability Statistics Center found that 14 percent of our elderly population and 40 percent of adults aged 80 and older use some sort of mobility device such as a cane, walker, wheel chair, etc. This rate is 10 times higher than mobility device use by working-age adults.

One of the easiest ways to keep your mobility-impaired loved ones safe when you can’t be around is by using products such as SmartCells Fall protection mats and flooring.

One of the most common questions we receive concerning our fall protection products is: how well do wheeled objects roll across your product?

Generally objects such as walkers and wheelchairs roll easily across the SmartCells fall protection products without increasing the risk of a trip hazard. However, the ease and force required to roll larger equipment across SmartCells Fall protection products largely depends on the size of the wheels and the weight of the equipment.

Although, pushing the equipment on the responsive flooring may require a higher push force than pushing on the regular flooring in all conditions with all equipment. The responsive flooring push forces still fall within ergonomics guidelines and would be considered an acceptable implementation by the Workplace Health Ergonomics team.

The unique SmartCells technology incorporates a dual-stiffness design that provides the stability of a hard surface while also retaining the capability to compress and cushion the impact of a fall.

SmartCells fall protection products include bedside mats, which have a low profile and beveled edges, enabling wheel chairs to easily roll over them.  In addition to bedside mats, SATECH, Inc. also offers custom fall protection flooring to fill any space or partial room when a single bedside mat is not large enough.

SmartCells Fall Protection products will be there for your loved ones when you can’t.