Chairs take the strain for UK's obese

Evac+Chair International launched two new products at this year's Safety and Health Expo 2011 at the NEC in Birmingham.

The standard Evac+Chair 300H is to be replaced with a new mark 4 edition which has a payload of 180kg, an increase of 30kg on the earlier model.

The company has also developed the 1-440, which has the capacity to hold an individual weighing 200kg.

The new chair includes a foot rest and is designed to have two people to assist where necessary.

Mark Wallace, managing director at Evac+Chair International, said: "New product development for the bariatric market is not confined to the healthcare sector. With almost a quarter of adults in England classified as obese there is an increasing need to provide health and safety equipment which caters for their needs."