What do all these workers have in common? Answer: All four of them died from injuries they sustained from falling down stairs. Staircases are so commonplace that it can be hard to remember that they're dangerous. They are. Here's an article to share with your workers on some of the activities that increase the risk of injury in stairwells and how to minimize those risks.

Stepping Up the Risks

Each time your daily work routine involves a trip up and down stairs, you put yourself at risk of injury through slips, trips and falls. This is especially true if you're carrying something at the time. Even a light load can change the way you walk and climb stairs and increase the possibility of losing your balance and tripping or falling.

When you carry objects up and down stairs, you not only shift your balance, you may also impair your line of vision, such that you can't see the steps properly. If you're carrying objects up and down stairs, it's also unlikely that you're using the hand rails.

Maintaining Good Conditions

Poor housekeeping can also create hazardous conditions on stairwells, such as obstructions caused when dropped items remain on the stairs or landings. Spilled liquids can create a wet, slippery surface on stairs. Even floor cleaning methods can create a slip hazard if stairs are not allowed to properly dry prior to use.

Poor maintenance also increases risks. Examples include stairs that are not properly lit because of burnt out bulbs or stair railings that are broken or pulled out of the wall. And you know those safety strips that are supposed to help you get a good footing on the stairs? Well, if those strips are in disrepair, they can actually become a tripping hazard themselves!

Minimizing the Risks

To reduce your risk of injury, you need to work with your supervisor and co-workers to plan alternate, safer ways of moving items. Such alternatives may involve:

With respect to maintenance and housekeeping issues, you can protect yourself by:

Stairways and Fire Safety

It's important to keep stairways safe and free of obstacles not just to prevent fall hazards but in case you need them during a fire or other emergency. Stairways are often part of an organization's fire safety evacuation system and may figure prominently in emergency plans.

Keep fire doors on stairways shut at all times, so that in the event of a fire, the stairways will remain free of smoke and toxic fumes. Keeping the fire doors closed will also help limit the spread of smoke to other floors in the building.

Stairways and Personal Security

Under normal conditions, fire doors are locked so that you can use them to enter fire stairwells but not use them to exit onto another floor. This type of locking provides for fire safety but can present a hazard if you feel that there is a threat to your personal security. If this is the case, you may need to use the fire alarm to open all of the doors in the stairwell so that you can escape to safety on any floor.

Conclusion

Stairways are common; unfortunately, so are stairway-related injuries. Before you take another step, take a moment to assess what you're doing and the condition of the stairs you're about to climb.

"STAIR"ING CONTEST

The Spanish Steps in Rome

Some of the World's Most Notable Stairs

By Ted Morrison

Stairs can be an architectural feature, a convenience or a challenge. Or sometimes all three! Here are four fast facts about some famous flights:

1. The world's longest stairway, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is located in Spiez, Switzerland. It services a special railway that takes people to the top of Niesen, a mountain in the Alps. It has 11,674 steps, rises 1,700 meters (5,500 feet) and is open once a year for a stair run.

2. The Haiku stairs on the Oahu island of Hawaii form a chain of 4,000 steps. Used to service radio antennae across a valley, they rise nearly half a mile (0.8 km) vertically.

3. The Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy were built to link the Spanish Embassy with the Holy See (the diplomatic arm of the Catholic Church), and are widely regarded as one of the architectural attractions of the city.

4. Worldwide, many tall towers hold stair runs. New York's Empire State Building hosts an annual Run-Up in which competitors dash up 1,576 steps and cover a vertical distance of 320 meters (1,050 feet). Australian Paul Crake holds the current record: nine minutes, 33 seconds.

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