Locking Bedrooms for People with Behavioural Problems

Safelincs has worked in conjunction with a local authority and the fire service to solve an issue that arose with a child suffering from severe emotional and behavioural problems.

The child resides with a foster family and everything in his bedroom has to be padded with any sharp objects removed to prevent him from harming himself. The same degree of prevention could not be carried out in the rest of the house which meant that the child needed to be confined to his bedroom at night.

The concern with locking a child or a person with behavioural problems in their bedroom is that if a fire should break out, the person would be trapped and unable to escape.

The solution was to fit a magnetic lock outside the child’s door. The strong electromagnet keeps the door closed, but if a smoke alarm anywhere in the house is triggered the electricity fails and the magnet loses power; releasing the door which can then be opened. There is a switch next to the bedroom door for opening of the door, as well as an override in the kitchen, so that the lock can be released manually at any point in time and from different parts of the building.

The bespoke solution was put together by Safelincs utilising existing products. The foster parents are now able to sleep in the knowledge that the child cannot come to harm in his own room.

“We worked closely with the fire service and the Children’s Services at the local authority,” explained Stuart Baxter. “Our solution could easily be replicated for people in similar circumstances.”

Magnetic Locks on Fire Exits

Ensuring that unwanted persons are kept out of your building without jeopardising a rapid fire escape from the inside of the building can be difficult. Panic bars are really only suitable for additional fire exits rather than the main entry points of a building. Magnetic locks (also called maglocks or mag locks) can offer here a solution.

maglocksMagnetic locks use a strong, electrically powered electromagnet to hold the door closed. If the power fails, or is interrupted by a fire alarm signal, the magnet loses power and releases the door which can then be opened. The door can usually only be released by pressing a button on the INSIDE of the building, although external keypad overrides are available.

We have launched a range of magnetic access control kits from Deedlock that not only keep out uninvited guests, but also link-up with fire detection units to release doors in the event of a fire. These kits are ready to be installed by any electrician.

Magnetic door lock kits can include the following release methods: key fobs and card reader units, release switches, digital keypads and emergency break-glass units. And of course the maglocks can be released automatically by a fire alarm system in case of fire. The maglock devices are powered by a 12V power supply.

For a range of other access door control equipment, take a look at our exit door security range.