Pressalit Care, headquartered in Ry, Denmark, has published bariatric load handling capabilities for a variety of the company’s bathroom safety accessories.  Bariatric load handling is an important consideration when selecting bathroom equipment in hospitals and nursing homes, due both to the prevalence of obesity and the continuing need to meet safe bathing and toileting requirements of heavy individuals.   Items such as support arms and shower seats must be designed to offer stability, comfort, and safety, especially for heavy individuals who may require assistance in standing or sitting while in bathroom settings. Rigorous load testing is critical to the satisfactory performance of these types of products.
Pressalit Care’s engineers employed three methods of load testing — static, dynamic, and lateral — in order to provide the most reliable results.  Static tests place a single known weight on the product for a given period of time in order to determine maximum weight bearing capacity.  Dynamic tests subject the products to a vertical load 10,000 times for two seconds at various points including innermost and outermost.   Lateral tests stress the product 10,000 times at a 45 degree angle in order to further simulate demanding real-life usage situations.
Most of Pressalit Care’s products are track-mounted, enabling them to be easily and quickly relocated on the wall to accommodate the varying height and weight needs of disabled or heavy individuals. Among the products covered in the report are support arms, shower seats, wall tracks, sink brackets, and handrails.
According to Gary Nowitz, president of Pressalit Care North America, “The concept of height-adjustable safety accessories appears to have generated significant interest among architects and owners who appreciate the reliability, convenience and space-saving aspects of this unique line of track-mounted products.  These customers frequently ask about our specific bariatric weight-bearing capacities during building design and product specification stages, and this publication is responsive to those requests.” 
About Pressalit Care: Pressalit Care is part of Pressalit A/S, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of bathroom and kitchen solutions for people with disabilities.   The company designs and markets specialty products for installation in hospitals, nursing homes, rehab facilities and the home environments  of physically disabled people.   Additional companies of Pressalit include Pressalit Seats, Europe’s leading supplier of toilet seats and bathroom accessories, and SaniScan, a leading manufacturer of seats, shower chairs and bathroom accessories.   Pressalit Care is known as one of Europe’s foremost developers of products designed to promote the independence of disabled people.  Pressalit Care’s North American headquarters is located at 51 Forrest Hills Drive, P.O. Box 1624, East Dennis MA 02641.