For a lot of industries, the school Summer holidays are a time for maintenance as lots of staff take leave.
There are usually fewer people about which enables maintenance staff or contractors to get on with well needed maintenance jobs. And, of course, this is most true for schools, colleges, and universities – when ‘school’s out for Summer!’.
Safety on steps
For a lot of our customers in the education or local authorities industries, we help them with anti-slip solutions in their high footfall stairwells with our products such as our stair tread covers or a stair nosing – but what else do you usually find in stairwells? Handrailing of course!
A big part of helping to prevent slips and trips on stairs that end in casualty is the handrailing.
So, it’s important when carrying out that Summer holiday maintenance on any stairs that you check if handrailing needs replacing if it is worn or weak, and also that you have the correct handrailing in place for health and safety purposes.
The law
The HSE guidelines state that handrails are very important in preventing a loss of balance on stairs becoming a serious fall. But you can’t just stick a pole next to some steps and hope for the best – they need to be in the right place, at the right height and graspable.
The HSE guidelines are as follows:
- The top of the handrail should be positioned between 900mm and 1000mm above the pitch line or floor
- Handrails should give firm support and allow a firm grip
- Stairs should have a handrail on at least one side if they are less than 1000mm wide. Above this width handrails should be provided on both sides
The solution
We can help you to be compliant with the law with our handrailing solutions and advise on what is correct, in line with HSE guidelines.
Our pultruded GRP Handrails are made from densely packed continuous fibreglass, which is wrapped by a layer of fibreglass mat.
The dense fibre core makes the structural shapes hard and strong, and their absolute values of vertical flexural strength and impact strength higher than those of common steels.
Some of the benefits to opting for GRP handrailing are:
High strength and stability
Easy to install
Corrosion resistant
Chemical resistant
Weather resistant
Lightweight
Low thermal conductivity
No recycle value
All parts are made to fit each other, and they are ‘warm to the touch’, unlike a steel alternative. GripClad GRP Handrailing is virtually a maintenance free alternative product!
Give us a call today on 02380 406796 if you are looking for a new handrailing solution.