Posted By Mick Byrne
After responding to a report from one of our resident contractors of an inadequate (low) handrail on a large tanalised timber staircase attached to one of our site buildings, another contractor questioned the suitability of the staircase in general. The low handrail issue is mitigated on every landing apart from the very top by the provision of bracing. On the top landing there is nothing present to attach extra bracing to thus leading to the low handrail. I asked our scaffold supervisor to investigate and within the hour he had provided a suitable temporary solution until a permanent rail could be installed.
Does anybody know of a relevant standard against which an audit could be undertaken to assess the suitability of this type of structure. My efforts to find one have so far been in vain.