Stairway Safety: A Measurement System Study of Step Dimensional Variation on Craftsman-Built Stairs

Details

• Personal Author:
  Neary J
• Description:
  Stairways can be thought of as hazardous locations that have the capability of being made acceptably safe by proper design, construction, and maintenance. According to the CDC (2008), "Falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries in the United States." Several factors contribute to these falls. Excessive variation in the dimensions of step risers and tread depths is a major risk factor for stairway falls. In order to evaluate a stairway for uniformity, a precise measurement system is needed. The current state-of-the-art measurement system is known as the nosing-to-nosing method. Measurements are conducted by measuring the distance and angle between the adjacent step nosings. Prior researchers on this topic recommended follow-up studies to more clearly define the precision of nosing-to-nosing measurement system. The study had three purposes. The first had two parts: (a) determine if the overall true mean of step riser height is significantly affected by steps, measurer, and the interaction of these factors, and (b) determine if the overall true mean of step tread depth is significantly affected by steps, measurer, and the interaction of these factors. The second purpose of this experiment was to determine the precision of the nosing-to-nosing measurement system. The third purpose of this study was to evaluate the precision of the nosing-to-nosing measurement system against criteria for measurement systems adopted by the automotive industry. Five older buildings on the Montana Tech Campus were assessed to determine which stair flights would be chosen for measurement. Most of the eight randomly chosen eight flights from these buildings were built by craftsmen. Each flight was measured twice on the same day by two measurers. This resulted in 324 riser height and 292 tread depth values. The ANOVA portion of this analysis determined that the steps, measurer, and their interaction significantly affected the riser height and the tread depth. The Gage R&R; analysis determined that the measurement system contributed 1.18% and 2.61% of total variability in riser height and tread depth, respectively. These findings were evaluated against criteria for measurement systems adopted by the automotive industry. Both were within the 1-9% range the automotive industry considers acceptable depending on the application, the cost of the measuring device, cost of repair, or other factors. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Construction Industry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Step Dimensional Variation Construction Craftsman-built Stairs Falls Human Factors Engineering Industrial Design Measurement Equipment Nosing-to-nosing Measurement System Step-riser Height
• ISBN:
  9781303992575
• Publisher:
  ProQuest LLC.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Thesis
• Place as Subject:
  Montana ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064037
• Citation:
  Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest LLC., 2014 Apr; :1558867
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  Montana Technological University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Stairway safety: a measurement system study of step dimensional variation on craftsman-built stairs
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4a788b4448c6fcd810fdb9d586e2594e177ea27e18279b226a6080dc9fa82aabd5aa69a790a8b18e0e0551ffc9a7f3b49bb3e42dbb8ecea49122076c236ea67f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222564/cdc_222564_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.89 MB ]