General Application
As a general rule, any unprotected edge of a walkway, platform, staircase or other raised area from which a person may fall more than 0.5m must be fitted with a guardrail. Steelway handrails and guardrails are designed to provide safety and give reassurance for users of staircases and walkways. They may be of tubular or solid construction or a combination of both. We supply handrails not only to complement our staircases. platforms, and other similar structures, but also as completely independent items to fit customers own equipment or civil engineering work etc.

All component parts are tailor-made in easy to handle lengths and clearly marked for assembly on site. Drawings are provided for customers’ use where they wish to undertake the site erection themselves. Alternatively, we can provide a speedy and efficient site installation service.

Design
Our designs follow the recommendation of BS 6399; Part 1, BS 5395 and BS 6180. There are at least two horizontal rails - a top rail (handrail) and an intermediate rail (knee rail) at approximately midheight. For step (companion) ladders and staircases in close proximity to, or bounded by a wall, a single handrail only is required with a minimum clearance for the hand of 75mm** (EEUA recommend minimum 65mm). If glazed areas occur adjacent to a walkway, platform, balcony or staircase, they should be guarded by a secure handrail or balustrade.

Wherever possible, handrails should be continuous and follow the exposed edge of raised platform areas and staircases. Sharp changes of direction in the vertical plane should be avoided in runs of handrail. The minimum height of handrails for platforms walkways and landings is 1.1m above the walking surface; for staircases the handrail height should be between 0.9m and 1m above the pitch line. Handrails should terminate in a swept end, either to the wall or to the knee rail, or return to the standards.

Note: Sharp corners, protrusions and stop ends should be avoided since these may catch clothing and cause accidents. Return bends (‘U’ bends) should not extend more than 350mm from the centre line of the standards. At the foot of staircases, ‘U’ bends should extend to the point of maximum extension of the stringer.

Loadings
BS 5395: Part 3 recommends the following minimum design imposed lateral loads that should be used for handrails in industrial situations:

Light duty. Access limited to one person. —0.36 kN/m
General duty. Regular two-way pedestrian traffic. —0.36 kN/m
Heavy duty. High density pedestrian traffic: escape routes. —0.74 kN/m
Potentially crowded areas over 3m wide. —3.00 kN/m

If there is any possibility of vehicular impact, the recommendations in appendix C of BS 6180 should be followed. For light access stairs, gangways etc., which are not more than 600mm wide, a minimum design load of 0.22 kN/m may be used (BS 6399: Part 1).