Hi all

Is there a requirement to have wardrobes fixed to the wall in the bedrooms of a Care Home environment?

If so, can you please point me in the right direction. My first thoughts are not to do this, as sometimes the family supply the furniture for their relative and many are frail therefore may not have the strength to topple.

I know that there has been the odd occasion that a wardrobe has fallen on a resident and this has led to their passing away but it is not a regular occurrence.

Your thoughts please and thanks in advance, JR.

Any furniture with the potential to cause serious injury or death should be appropriately assessed for the environment it is goingto be used in. If there is a liklihood that something could topple and do just - that suitable controls, which may include fixing to the wall, should be employed to minimise the risk.

Why would a resident's family object to something as simple as fixing a simple fixing to the top of a wardrobe or even bookshelf? The risk is obviously forseeable (as you have already pointed out), so measures should be put in place. Yes, eldely residents may be frail, but they are also often more susceptible to serious injury.

Most new 'stand alone' furniture comes with a simple nylon fixing strap with reinforced holes at either end. These items are also readily available at most major DIY stores. Would a resident's family really objet to a single hole being made in the back of a piece of furniture if it could lead to potentially saving their relative's life or at least serious injury?

*Anecdote warning* I have facial scarring where I sleepwalked as a child and toppled a piece of furniture onto myself.

All my wardrobes and bookshelves at home are fixed to the wall. I really can't see why you wouldn't - a couple of 90p brackets and 10p wall-plugs. (Ok, 30p if you need complicated cavity fixings). Most of the furniture I've bought in the last 10 years came with the brackets and plugs.

As previous posts - if there is a significant risk, then do it. My organisation has a number of different care establishments, most fixed to a wall because of the risk, some are not.

Of all those that are fixed to a wall, they are easily removable with a tool due to cleaning requirements.

Fixing the wardrobe to the wall is a risk control that will also make it safer for those who engage in other activities. However if you do dress up in PPE that looks remarkably like a batman suit, and jump off the top. It will not protect you from slips, trips and falls from height.

...... and with, so it would seem, a particularly dismissive attitude toward those 'occasional' fatalities