Liabilities are a property owner’s and contractor’s biggest nightmare. In this litigious society, even if you’re found blameless, the cost of defending yourself and loss of reputation can put you out of business.
The best and only defense is to make sure you can clearly demonstrate you have taken every precaution in complying with all codes, regulations and safety. Failing to do this, you become easy prey for unscrupulous lawsuits and possible legitimate ones too.
Slips or falls are prominent areas of liability and they are two words you don’t want to hear because even with great insurance, you really don’t want the hassle. Some little known statistics from the National Safety Council’s – Injury Facts, 2011 edition are as follows:
• Total deaths from falls (all causes)………………………………………………….15,742
• Leading cause of unintentional non fatal injuries (all ages)…………..8,551,037
• Falls to a lower level (private industry – non fatal)…………………………..67,510
• Average cost, workers comp. claims – slips and falls………………………$40,043
• Leading cause of unintentional public deaths…………………………………..8,600
• Percentage of slips and falls as unintentional injuries in homes……………26%
• Deaths from slips and falls on and from stairs residential………………….1,917
• Slips or falls are the leading cause of deaths for persons over age 65.
Private industry non-fatal falls generally occur on ladders, roofs, scaffolding, stairs and numerous other obstacles. The average workman’s comp. claim of $40,043 indicates the true impact on business. As an employer, you could open yourself up to a nightmare of civil suits, often for frivolous reasons.
Now add to this, potential liabilities after a job is completed. Your job can be scrutinized for any lack of code compliance or any areas which may pose potential hazards. According to the National Safety Council, slips or falls account for 26% of unintentional injuries in the home (second only to poisoning) and are the leading cause of death for persons over age 65. Slip or fall injuries for the elderly are serious and potentially deadly, however, they often result in extended hospital stays and long term recovery.
Slips or falls from stairs are a significant part of the equation. The statistics for residential fatalities approach 2,000 deaths but are only a shadow of the enormity of non-fatal injuries. If this happens on a job and its determined that codes were violated, responsibility rests squarely on the builder.
It’s a worrisome fact that the vast majority of stair railings do not meet safety standards according to code. In fact, stair railing safety is one of the least enforced of all code areas and represents one of the greatest risk factors for serious injury. Even if a local city inspector passes your job, you still own the liability. The inspector has no skin in the game due to Tort Law Protections, which all government bodies enjoy. This isn’t fair, but its reality.
You might ask then, so what’s the problem? The inspector passed my baluster spacing and checked my guard rail and hand rail height? Do you remember what the inspector most likely did next? It’s called the bump or pull test. The inspector will pull or bump the rail and if it seems sufficiently strong, it gets a pass. However, sufficiently strong is subjective. The specific IBC or IRC code requirements are as follows: any stair rail must withstand a lateral load (a sideways push or pull) of 200 lbs.
Now this is where the real problem begins. If the guard rail is 36″ high, and a 200 lb. force is applied, the rail acts like a lever, transmitting a much greater force at the base of the rail post which gives support to the rail. The 200 lb force at the top will result in a force of 1,600 lb or more at the base. This 1,600 lb force is more than enough to cause severe damage at the post base connection. This damage can also happen over a period of time. As the rail is continually being used, the lever like action will cause gradual weakening directly on the vital post connection. Once the rail is sufficiently weakened, allowing movement, then it is no longer safe. In a worst case scenario, any person, relying on the rigid support of the stair rail, could fall, resulting in serious injury or death. This is a statistical reality.
For standard deck railing, several companies have a well engineered rail post support, bracket system which has been tested for compliance with the 200 lb code requirement. The advantage of an engineered bracket is that they are tested with a safety factor of 250% (500 lb lateral load) and can be relied upon to provide more than adequate support. However, until recently, no such code compliant solution existed for rail post support for wood stairs (interior or exterior). This lateral load code requirement was thought to be unobtainable and explains the subjective testing that exists among code officials today.
This can no longer be the industry excuse for sub standard stair rail support. A solution is now available using an engineered rail post support stair bracket for wood stairs that has been tested to meet the 200 lb code requirement for rail post support up to 42″ above the nose of the stair tread. This exceeds both residential and commercial requirements for stair railing. This is an industry first and will offer the peace of mind that you have left the job in code compliance.