Hey Midtowner - stadium railing height

[pphilfran]

Another death due some underage drunk falling over a 33" railing...Georgia Dome...

On the back of tickets it always has the boilerplate about no liability, yada yada yada...

If there continues to be more deaths from falling over a 33" railing is there a possibly of lawsuits against the stadium owner/operator even with the boilerplate?

It would seem that sooner or later the height will become a big factor and some attorney will try to show lack of concern, based on history, on the owner/operators part by not raising railing height...

I think 33" is the legal building code requirement...I would imagine that legal code number should be raised no matter the risk of lawsuit...

Am I off base?

[BajaOklahoma]

Personal accountability needs to come into it, too. A guy sliding down the handrail or reaching too far for the ball are sad events, but basically the fault of the person who died.
I haven't seen an accident where the crowd on the escalator or crowd behind the person reaching for the ball forced the person over the rail. At that point, I would say the rails need to be raised. Though, to be fair, people are growing taller with each generation.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Agree, drunksters doing that need to enter for the Darwin award. However, OSHA railing heights go up to 42" and our facilities are built to that for safety.

[zseese]

I know it's not related, but OSHA standards specify 44" top rails for protection from heights in general industry, maybe these stadium builders should take that into account...

[bluedogok]

Think of how many millions of people go through stadiums, arenas, gymnasiums, concert halls, etc. every year watching events and how rarely someone is hurt from falling over the railing. Some people wouldn't be happy unless they have race track style catch fencing all around. As others stated, sometimes their is a cost for doing something stupid.

Here are the requirements for hand rails and guardrails per the 2009 International Building Code.


SECTION 1012 - HANDRAILS
1012.2 Height. Handrail height, measured above stair tread nosings, or finish surface of ramp slope, shall be uniform, not less than 34 inches (864 mm) and not more than 38 inches (965 mm). Handrail height of alternating tread devices and ship ladders, measured above tread nosings, shall be uniform, not less than 30 inches (762 mm) and not more than 34 inches (864 mm).

SECTION 1013 - GUARDS
1013.2 Height. Required guards shall be not less than 42 inches (1067 mm) high, measured vertically above the adjacent walking surfaces, adjacent fixed seating or the line connecting the leading edges of the treads.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

As a human factors engineer, hand railing do not = saftey railing. The lower hand railing height is optimum grab height for most people to help guide them down stairs. It is not protective of an over board fall.

[zseese84]

As a human factors engineer, hand railing do not = saftey railing. The lower hand railing height is optimum grab height for most people to help guide them down stairs. It is not protective of an over board fall.

Point is that maybe they should...

[TheHumanAlphabet]

I would agree, railings at the 33-38" height are faulty in my opinion, they are not at a safety protective height. They should be at the 42" height, but that does not mean the the drunk stupid person is absolved of responsibility.

[ouleaf]

Rangers moved all their railings up to 42 after having 2 such incidents in the past few years. Still not an assurance anyone is not going to fall over again. I know a lot of stadiums are hesitant to do it b/c it can obstruct sight lines to the game for ticket holders.