Installing an overhead lifting system in your facility is an exciting experience, marking the beginning of your journey towards safer and easier transfers. Our lifting solutions enhance the well-being of both residents and staff and that’s something we’re very proud to offer aged care facilities across New Zealand. We also pride ourselves on the care taken by our staff during the entire process. From concepting, all the way through to the completion of install – it’s an important focus of any project undertaken here at Cubro.
The definition of a retrofit installation means to fit a ceiling hoist into an existing care room, working around fixtures, wall heaters, picture frames and any other items on the walls or ceiling in the resident’s room. The components of the system, such as the hoist tracking and beams, are installed against the walls and/or ceiling, ensuring it blends into the environment smoothly. Having completed many retrofit installations nationwide, we’ve perfected this process, ensuring smooth execution from start to finish. One of our main goals during the install phase is to ensure this is a straightforward process for the facility and particularly the resident involved. Our team of experts always show respect and care towards their workspace, understanding that the room is a resident’s home, and we are just guests.
Alaska Currie, Project Manager for Cubro and the man in charge of making sure an overhead lifting installation runs smoothly, said his team always communicates with the facility up front. He determines if a resident resides in the room where the ceiling hoist is being installed, and if so, works closely with them to ensure their daily cares are not disrupted.
“We won’t start installing until about 9 - 9.30am to allow for residents to wake up, get out of bed, do their morning cares, head out for breakfast and then we can go in there and do our install. If we can’t start until slightly later because a resident might be having a bad day, then we’ll always work around them.”
Once the resident is safely out of their room, the team starts moving the furniture out. If space is limited, then they’ll move items to the centre of the room and cover them with drop sheets to ensure everything is protected against any dust or building materials.
“Any furniture, bedside cabinets, chairs, pictures on the wall, anything like that, we always ask them if they are OK for us to move it, or would they like a maintenance person or someone at the facility to move it? We make a habit of taking a photo of the room before we start and then we know where everything goes back into place once finished.”
Our aim is that the resident’s room is left in the same condition as when the team arrives, except now featuring a brand-new piece of impressive overhead lifting equipment. We understand wholeheartedly that their room is their space and treating that area with respect is just as important as getting the product installed safely. Our install team carry cleaning equipment with them, including a vacuum cleaner to tidy up any dust that may have fallen onto the floor and wipes to clean down any surfaces.
When it comes to a retrofit installation, the team aren’t always aware of the building’s structure, like they would be with a new build, therefore once all the bedroom equipment has been moved or covered, then it’s time to locate the studs in the walls and get the installation underway.
“Could be steal studs, timber studs, concrete walls and this just changes what fixings we use to fix our track to it. There isn’t any wall type we can’t fix into; we can always come up with a solution to make it work.”
Once the tracking is installed and the beam has been put into place, our team will undertake a variety of safety checks. Weight testing is performed on the newly installed system with a power chair, weighing 300kgs. This weight outperforms the safe working load of the system but is assessed to ensure optimum lifting performance. All results are documented and used for annual compliance checks.
One of the most frequent questions that comes up when booking an installation is how long will it take? From arrival to completion, it’s a maximum of 2-3 hours for the standard wall-mounted or ceiling hoist install. This time frame takes into consideration working with the resident’s needs and moving their personal items in and out of the room.
Once the installation is complete, your local Account Manager will be in contact with you to book in a training session with your staff, equipping them with the operational knowledge to carry out safe and confident manual handling transfers. We also have training videos available on our website's Resource section to help guide you.
We believe installing a ceiling hoist in an existing care room benefits residents, staff, and the facility. With our easy, non-disruptive, and respectful installation process, what are you waiting for?
Contact us to discuss trialling an overhead lifting solution in your facility or to explore options for a specific resident’s needs.
Contact us