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Bodypoint Steel Slides and Tri-end Fittings

Tri-End Fittings or Steel Slides will no longer be sold separately, and will only be available together as a set (2x fittings and 2x slides), with immediate effect. Below we explain the background to this change and give you some information regarding the use of such items.

The main reason for these fittings and slides being sold as sets is that the primary manufacturer Bodypoint now only supplies is these in sets. Unfortunately, If BES were to take these sets apart and sell the individual components, we would be considered legal “medical device manufacturers”, and would be needed to cover all the incumbent regulatory requirements. We hope you understand that this regulatory burden would not be proportionate to the products in question.

All Bodypoint belts and harnesses are compliant to ISO 16840-3: 2014, which looks at aspects such as strength and durability. The mounting hardware and end fittings are tested together with the belts and harnesses, and not in isolation to ensure that belts and harnesses maintain their strength and stay in place.

We are aware that a number of customers buy Bodypoint’s Tri-end fittings to use in conjunction with other products outside the original manufacturer “intended use”. We understand the desire to do this, (indeed there may be cases where this is perfectly legitimate) however we would like to make sure all our customers are fully informed of the complete picture. Below are some considerations before using the hardware, other than its “intended use”:

• The quality seal of the ISO16840-3: 2014 testing only applies to the whole belt/harness and mounting hardware together. Adding these parts to another product does not transfer this seal of approval.

• Bodypoint puts a lot of care and attention into their engineering and design. These elements ensure that used correctly they will deliver a high level of performance and safety in use. E.g. the grooves on the metal bar in Bodypoint’s Cinch Mount correspond exactly to the pattern of the webbing Bodypoint uses. This means that cinch mounts used with another type of webbing, would not provide the same level of grip and safety.

• End Fittings and Mounting Hardware are two different things. End Fittings are designed to create a transition from the webbing to the mounting hardware, and mounting hardware is designed to fix correctly to the chair. In Bodypoint’s case these are designed with each other in mind for the intended application.

The best advice we can give is to continue to risk assess your application and wherever possible to use products as they were intended by the manufacturer. If you are ever in doubt, please don’t hesitate to ask the BES team as we are always happy to help and provide alternative solutions.