In prisons, detention centers, psychiatric hospitals, and rehab centers, safety is a top priority. It’s important to protect inmates and patients as well as staff members and visitors. Increasing security measures and thoroughly training staff members in de-escalation techniques and other resolution strategies can help keep safety at the forefront. Of course, many other factors can also improve safety, including the way cells or patients’ rooms are designed.
Having the right furniture in place can also have a positive impact. Items like anti-ligature chairs can make a significant difference in psychiatric, correctional, and detention centers. They can aid in creating safe spaces in many ways.
Reducing the Risk of Self-Harm
One of the ways an anti-ligature chair can help to create a safe space is by reducing the risk of self-harm. Reports indicate that suicides are on the rise in jails and prisons. Nearly 43 percent of those are by hanging. Suicides are also increasing in mental facilities with an estimated 70 percent of those taking place by hanging. Anti-ligature furniture is designed to eliminate potential ligature points. When used in conjunction with other measures, it can help to prevent those deaths.
Protecting Other Inmates and Patients
While the rates of suicide are high in correctional and mental facilities, there’s also a high risk of inmates and patients harming other people. Ligature points give them ample opportunities for hanging, strangling, or binding other patients or inmates. Research shows that approximately 50,000 assaults are reported in correctional facilities each year, and at least 17 percent of psychiatric patients commit violent acts against fellow patients annually. Furnishing these facilities with anti-ligature furniture can eliminate some of the dangers.
Safeguarding Staff Members
Anti-ligature furniture can reduce the risks of being injured for staff members as well. Though attacks on prison staff members by inmates are considered relatively uncommon, they do happen. Psychiatric facility staff members frequently reports being assaulted by patients as well. Anti-ligature furniture can give patients and inmates fewer ways to harm facility personnel.
Added Weight and Stability
Furthermore, anti-ligature chairs can be more sturdy and stable than their counterparts. They won’t tip over as easily, so people are less likely to be injured by falling out of them. Some are heavier than standard chairs as well, so they’re not as easy to move. As such, patients and inmates can’t move them around and use them to reach other potential ligature points.
Improved Furniture Durability
In many cases, anti-ligature furniture consists of a solid piece of material as opposed to multiple assembled pieces. As such, it’s often more solid than conventional furniture. It has fewer joints that can wear out over time as well. It can withstand constant use, being handled roughly, and other hazards. That makes it safer for users. There’s little risk of injuries from fasteners, loose joints, and other dangers that damaged or worn-out furniture can pose.
Using Anti-Ligature Furniture for Added Safety
In correctional facilities, detention centers, and mental health facilities, keeping safety at the forefront is essential. Though there are numerous potential dangers to consider, there are also several ways to mitigate them. Anti-ligature furniture is an effective way to reduce the risks of suicide by hanging as well as some of the possible dangers for staff members and other patients and inmates.
