There’s More to Stairwell Safety Than You May Think

If you've ever gone up and down the stairs, you may know the feeling that the stairs are steep. You wonder what would happen if you were to fall down the stairs. You're not exactly paranoid: Accidents on stairs and stairwells can, and do, happen quite often. And there's a lot more to keeping stairways safe than you may think. I will discuss a few aspects of stairwells that may lead to someone possibly getting injured.

Height and Depth Uniformity

Many building codes address stairwells and measurements of the stairs in them. Most Louisiana building codes operate by regulating some core measurements of stairwells.

We don't realize it, but when we're going up and down stairs, our brains react and adjust to the uniformity of the stairs. We know how far to step up or down or how long the step itself may be because our brains acclimate to the rhythm and pattern of the steps.

That means that both height and depth of stairs must be exactly even for all stairs and steps on the same stairwell. You can imagine the confusion and the danger if one step was, say, 5 inches long; the next step 7 inches; and the next step 4 inches.

The height of the stairs must be the same as well—that is, the height of the step up, or the step down, from step to step, for the very same reason. This is important because when we step up or down, our bodies and the musculature of our knees, ankles, and lower backs "brace for impact" and get our bodies ready to absorb the energy of the next step up or down.

If we expect a step down to be, say, 7 inches, and it is 9 inches, our brains and bodies aren't ready. When that happens serious injuries to the musculature, tendons, and ligaments in the lower body can occur.

Striping or Highlighting

You may have noticed that many stairwells have stripes or taping on the edges of the steps. That is because it can be hard for the eyes to perceive where a step actually ends from the distance from the ground to our head. The highlighting, painting, or taping is a way of alerting us to the fact that a step ends, and it is time to step up or down.

Handrail Safety

If all this isn't enough, there are also laws about the handrails, and how high off the ground they must be. Too low, and they are useless for people to use, but too high, and they may not be usable for smaller people. Needless to say, the handrails themselves must be stable, and not prone to wobbling or unsteadiness.

Many businesses will extend a stairwell, but not the handrail along with it, leaving areas of stairs where there is no handrail at all for users to stabilize themselves. 

Cleanliness

All of this is in addition to keeping the actual surface of the stairs neat and clean. Stairs are often overlooked by stores and property owners, who will inspect and clean a floor routinely, but may not give any thought to inspecting and cleaning stairways.

If all of these discussed aspects aren’t properly taken into account when designing and/or maintaining a stairwell, injury can result. For more information, contact the Law Offices of Philip B. Adams. If you have been injured in a Louisiana accident, our Louisiana personal injury lawyers can help you recover the full compensation you are entitled to according to Louisiana law. To contact us, complete our "Contact Us" page here. You may significantly benefit by having an attorney with legal competence and experience assist you with your Louisiana personal injury case. We have offices in Shreveport and handle personal injury cases throughout Louisiana. Thank you for reading this blog post and visiting our website.