Wheelchair Safety

Balance is key to wheelchair safety when leaning and bending over from the seated position. Although technology has made the mobile resource more stable, there are many human actions that can be taken for safe results.

Practice

• Try a variety of movements in your wheelchair while others are close to help. Think of movements you would normally perform in a daily routine and practice them.

Tipping

• Ask for assistance when your chair needs to be tipped to go up or down over an object. The assistant should grasp a permanently fastened portion of the wheelchair back to support the tipping process.

Casters

• Position the casters away from the larger wheels for better balance when leaning and bending. Always put your wheel locks on when trying to pick up items on the floor.

Movement

• Do not reach for anything that requires you to move the location of your hips in the chair. This can cause a loss of balance.

Inspect

• Inspect a ramp and pathways for objects that might cause unsafe travel. The disabled world website page about wheelchair users says, "Chairs usually employ sonar, infrared sensors or laser rangefinders to detect obstacles."