Products for Mental Health Safeguarding (ProMHS)

What is ProMHS?

The scheme provides a clear indication of a product’s achieved performance in a mental health and care setting. It helps to ensure the safety of people suffering with mental illness, while they’re in the care of a facility.

The scheme is applicable to the products used within high-risk areas such as bedrooms, bathrooms, toilets and other spaces or areas that are infrequently observed. These include:

• Doorsets, windows and their associated hardware

• Furniture

• Sanitary fittings

• Fixtures and fittings

• Safety devices.

 

 

Benefits of assessing to ProMHS

• Reduce the risk of harm with the latest science-driven safety practices.

• Help manufacturers save time and money with accurate and appropriate product-testing requirements.

• Assist procurement teams to better evaluate manufacturers’ trade literature.

As part of the scheme, each product undergoes rigorous testing in BRE’s test labs in accordance with testing guidance. Factory Production Control audits are undertaken at the manufacturing site(s) to ensure quality control of the manufacturing process.

The independent testing conducted to support this scheme may cover at least one of the following parameters:

• Part One – Ligature: an assessment of the sensitivity of products to be used as ligature anchor points.

• Part Two – Robustness.

• Part Three – Anti-barricade: an assessment of additional requirements for doorsets, hardware and window performance.

The certification process

Certification with ProMHS begins with an application and usually takes between two and four months.

Step one - send your application to BRE

Step two - BRE assesses your application

Step three - BRE issues a proposal and requests payment

Step four - once payment is received, BRE tests your product and completes an FPC audit

Step five - BRE gives your product a rating

Step six - BRE certifies and lists your product

Step seven - BRE completes surveillance audits