What is a guardrail on stairs?

Asked by: Jocelyn Lewis

Staircase between walls with an aluminum handrail. Guardrail. In building terms, a guardrail is a railing used to prevent falling from an elevated surface like a deck or balcony. Unlike a handrail, a guardrail is a life-saving device. Guardrails come in a variety of styles, but all are designed for safety.

What is the difference between railing and guardrail?

However, a guardrail is a barricade installed at the perimeter of a raised surface such as balconies or walkways. While a handrail is any horizontal or sloping railing especially on escalators or stairways on which you can grasp by the hand.

What is the purpose of the guardrail?

A guardrail is, first and foremost, a safety barrier intended to shield a motorist who has left the roadway. The best case scenario, if a car is careening off the road, would be for that car to come to rest unhindered.

What is the railing at the top of stairs called?

handrail

A handrail, also called a bannister, is what people hold onto for support when going up and down the staircase. The handrail is fixed to vertical posts (balusters) or a wall up one or both sides of the staircase.

What are the different types of guardrails?

There are four general types of guardrail, ranging from weakest and inexpensive to strongest and expensive; cable and wood posts, steel and wood/metal posts, steel box-beam, and concrete barriers.

When should guardrails be used?

Guardrails are required as the main method of preventing employees from falling to lower levels per OSHA standard 1910.23(c). Any platform 4 feet or higher above a lower floor or the ground must be protected by a guardrail on all open sides.

Can a handrail be used as a guardrail?

Handrail would not be used in instances such as this, because they typically have a lot of open space below the handrail. This is not effective as people can very easily go under the rail and into the road.

Where do you put a guardrail?

If 12 feet is not available the guardrail should be placed as far away from the face of the curb as the shoulder width will allow.

What should guardrails be?

The regulations required the top guardrail (often referred to as the handrail) to be at least 950mm high. There’s a small exception in that handrails already in place before 2005 could be at least 910mm high.

What are the three main parts of a guardrail?

There are three main parts of a guardrail: The top rails, the midrails, and the vertical posts.