3 Tips For Safely Using A Stair Lift In Your Home
If you have found that you are no longer able to easily climb the stairs in your home, you may have had a stair lift installed so that you can still access the second story of your home. If so, use the following tips to ensure that you stay safe while using your in-home stair lift.
1. Check the Path for Obstacles
Before you even sit down in the lift's chair, look up the steps to make sure that there is nothing laying on the steps that could interfere with the path. If you try to use the lift with obstacles in the way, you risk harming yourself if the impact were to throw you out of the chair.
Also, make sure your pets are not at the top or bottom of the stairs when you take off. If they were to take off down or up the stairs while you are in motion, you not only risk hurting yourself but also harming them if they become caught.
2. Make Sure Your Clothes Are Not Hanging off the Chair
After ensuring that the path is cleared, go ahead and sit down in the chair. However, before you buckle the belt and take off, glance around at your clothing to make sure that nothing is hanging off the sides of the chair.
If even a corner of a shirt or your pants becomes caught in the stair lift, a couple of things could happen. First, the jerking motion could either injure you or throw you off balance.
Second, anything that gets caught in the lift's motor could jar the chair loose, causing it to pull off of the chair's tracks. If this happens, you could be seriously injured, so always take a second to pull in any loose clothing before you take off.
3. Double-Check the Safety Harness
Once you know that your clothing is secured, you can go ahead and fasten the safety belt or harness around you. However, before you take off, always double-check the connections to ensure they are tight.
While the stair lift usually moves at a slow, smooth pace, you never know when it may jar or stop suddenly. Taking an extra second to make sure that you are tightly fastened in can help keep you from being thrown out of the chair
Using the tips above can help ensure that you stay safe while using the lift in your home. For more information about using and maintaining your in-home stair lift, speak with a representative from the company through which you purchased and had it installed.