Hello all. Friday afternoon and I'm now brain dead. I have a country house hotel with external steps into the garden. 6 steps with a stone rail / edging of approx 500mm. We had an accident where a customer fell down steps and broke her shoulder. I say handrail but others say not. What your views on this please and is it a legal requirement or not. Thanks Jim

Hi,
in my opinion there should be a handrails. The Building Regulations (Section K1: 1.27) states that flights and landings should be guarded at the sides where there is a drop of 600mm. I think this would be applicable here.

PH2

One thing that needs to taken into account is how did this person fall? Was it down the steps or off the steps, quite different accidents. How old was the person in question and was he/she suffering from a mobility impairment. So just let the fact that an accident occurred pass by. What exactly is the risk of an average reasonably fit person from falling, that's the start point you should use, then ask yourself what is the level of risk that someone with an physical difficulty would face? How often are these steps used and is it possible that you can prevent them being used? To simply ask for a solution on this forum is quite frankly a none starter, if you can't do it yourself why not ask a properly competent person to do it for you.

Hi All,

its alright quoting building regs,,,, but they're not retrospective? The reasons why the person fell are far more relevant? Is it a common occurence?

Holmezy