Exterior Staircase Fall Down:
After exiting a building, an elderly woman descended an outdoor, wooden, wide set of stairs. While doing so, she lost her balance, fell, and was seriously injured. Upon inspection, we determined that the rise-height of the step where she fell was a half-inch higher than the previous steps. In addition, there was no handrail nearby. Both these items represented significant hazards and building code violations. The defendant settled the lawsuit after receiving our report.
Analysis of Current Ladder Safety Standard:
We have conducted tests and analyses to investigate the effectiveness of the ANSI ladder standards to address the dynamic flexibility of stepladders. Through physical testing and the use of finite element models of six and eight foot stepladders, we determined that the twist flexibility of most stepladders was far greater than necessary to safely accommodate uneven surfaces. We then showed that the increased flexibility contributed to the heightened potential for a three-leg contact instability.