Outside stairs and safety

[Peter.H.M.Brooks]

I'm not sure if this is really an appropriate question for here, but I'd be grateful of advice!

There's a flight of external stairs that people have tended to fall over on over the years. I've suggested better grip in the wet might be a good idea and, as a result, an exterior paint, mixed with sand, has been applied, giving a much better grip.

People still fall over - the stairs aren't even outside a pub, so that's not the explanation!

I had somebody criticise some other stairs, saying that the risers were too high and might be dangerous, so I wondered if that might be part of the problem.

These stairs have a railing, but the riser hight is 17cm and the tread width 28cm. I gather, from a brief look at things, that 15cm is a good size for a riser. Is 17 cm too high? Would it make sense to put an extra stair between each of the current ones giving 8.5 and 14 cm, or would that make it worse?

Not everybody using the stairs is in the first flush of youth, which is part of the problem, I know. They have a railing, on the right hand side going down, but they are over three metres wide. Should they have a railing down the middle? Is the height of the railing important?

[Christian McArdle]

I assume by "tread width", you actually mean the going.

170mm is a good height for a riser. 280mm is a good length for a going. It is not entirely clear if this is a private staircase or an institutional one. I presume the latter from your comments. If so, the rise is required to be between 135mm and 180mm (it is). The going is required to be between 280mm and 340mm (it is).

One thing that should not be permitted in a staircase is variable rise and going. All steps should be identical, or they will be very unsafe.

This may be your problem. 3m does need to be subdivided. Any stair wider than 1.8m requires this treatment. Indeed, much more width and it would need subdividing into 3. It also requires handrails on both sides additional to the dividing handrail in the middle. Just one handrail down one side is not enough!

The height of the railing should be 900-1000mm off the pitch line.

Christian.

[dom]

Christian is absolutely correct - read the relevant Building Regulations:

[The Natural Philosopher]

One case in which the regulations are utterly sane...

[Peter.H.M.Brooks]

Thank you - that is most helpful! I hadn't known what the 'going' was, but I see it is either the witdth of a passage, or a stair - I'm sure I'll find that a useful term.

I'll have to check that they're all the same size. I think that the bottom step might have a wider going. It looks like handrails are going to be going into the going soon!

[manatbandq]

SSSSHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[The Natural Philosopher]

No, Actually not.

Where politics have been kept out of the regulations, and they have been worked out properly by sensible engineers, they are a good representations of 'best economically reasonable practice' and when interpreted by intelligent BCO's they do result in safe structurally sound and healthy and usable living spaces, and do not impinge on architectural freedom.

Its the politicized ones that are always bollocks. To a large extent that is the disability friendly ones, and the part P electrical ones.

I totally LOATHE the fact that it is no longer possible to build a town house with a set of steps UP to the front door, and down to the basement.

Bloody ramps.

[Owain]

And consideration should be given to contrasting colours on nosings and handrails, and lighting. A lot of elderly people have some defect in vision. The RNIB website might have some useful suggestions.

I would also suggest, if this is a commercial/institutional setting, recorded CCTV coverage of the steps. If this can be monitored by security personnel it may allow a quicker response to a lone individual falling, but I would see its main purpose as a safeguard against false claims, which are a growing problem.

Owain

[tbasc]

What brought about the restriction of steps down and steps up? What is allowed? TB

[Christian McArdle]

Level access for wheelchairs. You need one on the primary entrance floor. It can be the back door, although this is more difficult on terraces and townhouses.

Christian.