Government consults on safer stairs

The government is consulting on updating the Building Regulations to include British Standard 5395-1 on stair design.Making stairs at least 250mm deep, as per BS 5395-1, instead of the current minimum of 225mm, is reckoned to reduce falls by 60%.The standard also requires the provision of handrails, mandating two, one of which must always be within reach.BS 5395-1 has been in place as an industry-standard since 2010, and is part of the Building Regulations introduced by the coalition government. However, the 2010 legislation only put the standard in place as a recommendation, not as a legal requirement, and so it is routinely ignored.The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has been campaigning to make stairs safer and have the standard made mandatory. It described the government consultation as a major breakthrough.The government has promised to complete the review “as expeditiously as possible, and certainly within the year”. RoSPA has called falls on the stairs “a hidden killer” which claims the lives of more than 700 people a year in England, and hospitalises 43,000 more. RoSPA, with its partners from the building industry, has argued that changes to incorporate the British Standard into building regulations are simple to deliver and cost-effective if set in at the design stage of new homes. The law will only apply to new-build properties and therefore would not require retrofitting in existing houses. RoSPA has engaged with trade associations and housing groups throughout, including the Home Builders Federation (HBF), Local Government Association (LGA), National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and the National Home Builders Council (NHBC).