According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of reported deaths in 2013. This means that someone's suicide attempt was successful every 12.8 minutes every day of the year, culminating in 41,149 deaths. Approximately 650,000 to 800,000 people visited hospitals in 2013 for injuries due to self-harm behavior, which includes attempted suicide.
In an attempt to prevent suicides, hospitals, healthcare facilities and homes must house persons who are considered at risk for suicidal tendencies in rooms that have been upgraded with ligature resistant hardware. This also includes detention centers. Locksmiths may be called upon to install ligature resistant locks, hinges, doors and door hardware.
I was invited to observe the modification of a restroom door to meet the ligature resistant criterion of a medical center. The locksmiths were requested to modify 50 in-room restroom doors in their behavioral healthcare facility to improve the degree of patient safety. Existing door hardware was ligature resistant, push-pull hospital latches whose paddles were turned up on both sides to prevent them from being used to secure a bed sheet in order to hang oneself. The upper butt hinge had a hospital tip, an angled tip that resists the placement of any objects. The middle and lower butt hinges were self-closing spring hinges.
For this installation, the restroom swinging flush wood door was upgraded to a Markar Architectural Products Continuous Hinge HG305-83XHT Hinge Guard. The HG305-83XHT is an edge mounted continuous hinge that meets or exceeds ANSI/BHMA Standard A 156.26 Grade 1. The non-handed, Markar HG305 is manufactured from 14-gauge stainless steel with a .187" diameter stainless steel pin. The security screws are concealed when the door is closed supporting up to a four hundred pound door with a maximum width of four feet. The HG305 Hinge Guard has a wrap around internal hinge guard that protects the hinge edge of the door.
New door latching hardware was installed. The push-pull latch hardware was replaced with a Trimco 1554 Roller Latch with ANSI Strike plate and Flush Pull, part number 115P. Modification to the cross bore opening for the flush pulls and the depth of the latch face opening was required. The roller latch had to be recessed as the latch face cannot adjust for door bevel. The roller latch has a depth adjustment at the rear, which is used to extend or retract the roller reducing or increasing the amount of force required to open or close the door.
Trimco 1115P is a pair of stainless steel flush pulls prepped for back-to-back mounting with lugs and thru-bolts. The overall size of each is 3-1/2" by 4-3/4" with a depth of 13/16". The opening is 3-17/32" by 2-9/16". The exposed screw-mounted handle was located onto the exterior side of the door.
The top of the door was shortened at an angle from the hinge side down towards the latch side in order to resist self-harm behavior. The bottom of the door was also shortened 10 inches to provide a non-intrusive view into the restroom, beginning at just below the butt hinge. For the installation, the HG305-83XHT had to be cut to accommodate the smaller overall length of the door. This barrel type hinge was modified to hospital tips on the top and bottom.
The healthcare center maintenance department constructed the U-Channels for top and bottom of the flush wood doors with what appeared to be a particleboard core. The U-Channels offer two benefits: covering the cut portion of the door, which exposed the core and providing a clean, smooth finish for the door top and bottom.
To cut the door at an angle at the top, horizontally across the bottom and trim the hinge edge, the locksmiths used the Festool TS 75 EQ Plunge Cut Circular Saw with Guide Rail. This saw is designed to cut straight and splinter-free as these flush doors have veneer clad faces. The guide was positioned approximately two inches beneath the top at the hinge edge and 10 inches down on the latch edge. The U-Channels were mounted onto the top and bottom to cover the core using screws and glue. The hinge edge of the door was trimmed to accommodate the three stainless steel components of the barrel type continuous hinge.
If you do not have access to a track saw, use a circular saw with a new fine tooth blade. Tape the faces of the door along the cuts. The tape helps to avoid splintering the veneer when cutting the door. I strongly recommend using a guide as the longest cut was approximately six feet to trim the hinge edge of the door.
The door was removed and carried outdoors to perform the modification. The door was placed onto two sawhorses. The door hardware was removed and measurements were taken for the top, bottom and hinge edge of the door. The top and bottom were the first cuts, shortening the overall length of the edge cut.
After the door was modified, the next step was to enlarger the cross bore opening for the flush pulls and the door edge latch opening for the roller latch. When completed, the components were dry fit. The continuous hinge was installed using several security screws. The U-Channels were dry fit and modifications were made to exactly fit the door top and bottom. The flush pulls and the roller latch was installed.
The door was rolled to the opening and dry fit, marking the location for the first mounting screw in the metal jamb. Once the door was mounted and the first screw installed, the remaining screws were installed on both the door and the metal jamb. At this time, we realized the doorjamb was tweaked during original installation. A hydraulic power tool was used to straighten the doorjamb, ensuring the door closed completely with the latch edge against the rabbet and the door face against the stop.
One down and 49 to go.
For more information, contact your local locksmith distributor or:
Markar Architectural Products: www.markar.com
Trimco: www.trimcohardware.com
