An in-depth investigation of 40 stairway accidents and the stair safety literature

The result of an investigation on 40 stairway accidents shows that the most important problem associated with the stairway accident comes from the dimensional inconsistency of the stairways and not from the individual. The stair characteristics are designated in the study as including location, physical aspects and and external factors and the dimensional factors are defined as riser heights, tread depth, handrail measurements, stairway width, lighting measurements and coefficient of friction measurements. Stairway accidents can be reduced by improved design, construction, maintenance and use of stairways.