# Open staircase safety



## akrause (May 18, 2010)

Anyone ever developed a good safety barricade system for working in stair towers with open space in-between the handrails? I wish I could put a photo up here but I don't see a way to do it. You've all seem them before and you know what I'm talking about: go to the top floor of a staircase in an old building and look over the handrail in the middle and you can see all the way to the basement floor. Translation: dead guy if someone falls. This building is 6 stories but there is only about 14" in-between the rails which is good. Some have a much much larger span.

I'm sure a scaffold company has an expensive system for this but I'm thinking some 2x12's and some hardware or ratchet straps to secure them in place will suffice.
We just need something for fall protection, not as a working surface. I think if we close off a minimum of 2 landings below whatever floor we're working on, that would be well within the reasonable realm of safety. Thoughts?


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## akrause (May 18, 2010)

Hmmm..... 479 views and not a single reply. All good - I guess I'll reply to my own post. We've decided the answer to open area ways is netting. *Good* quality construction fall safety netting. It's (obvi) flexible and can easily span across split level landings, it comes in all lengths and sizes, we can ratchet strap the hell out of it to the railings & posts and add some extra carabiners for additional safety, and then toss some drops over the whole thing to act as a debris barrier. Also, the stuff can be stored in a friggin empty 5 gal bucket with a lid on it. SCORE ! Initially we were trying to figure out ways to get 2x12's or sheets of heavy plywood across there, but the hell with that. (insert green check mark here), ...Problem Solved!


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## EveryDay (Mar 23, 2019)

akrause said:


> Anyone ever developed a good safety barricade system for working in stair towers with open space in-between the handrails? I wish I could put a photo up here but I don't see a way to do it. You've all seem them before and you know what I'm talking about: go to the top floor of a staircase in an old building and look over the handrail in the middle and you can see all the way to the basement floor. Translation: dead guy if someone falls. This building is 6 stories but there is only about 14" in-between the rails which is good. Some have a much much larger span.
> 
> I'm sure a scaffold company has an expensive system for this but I'm thinking some 2x12's and some hardware or ratchet straps to secure them in place will suffice.
> We just need something for fall protection, not as a working surface. I think if we close off a minimum of 2 landings below whatever floor we're working on, that would be well within the reasonable realm of safety. Thoughts?


akrause,
The square yellow/black icon with twin mountain peeks is for inserting images using URL of your image.
Or to download image stored on your computer you can also do this, below the box where you are typing your replies there are four boxes 
and the second box has this text in it:
"Valid file extensions: bmp doc gif jpe jpeg jpg pdf png psd txt xls zip"
Click on: "Manage Attachments" and follow the instructions.
Hope this helps.


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## EveryDay (Mar 23, 2019)

akrause said:


> Anyone ever developed a good safety barricade system for working in stair towers with open space in-between the handrails? I wish I could put a photo up here but I don't see a way to do it. You've all seem them before and you know what I'm talking about: go to the top floor of a staircase in an old building and look over the handrail in the middle and you can see all the way to the basement floor. Translation: dead guy if someone falls. This building is 6 stories but there is only about 14" in-between the rails which is good. Some have a much much larger span.
> 
> I'm sure a scaffold company has an expensive system for this but I'm thinking some 2x12's and some hardware or ratchet straps to secure them in place will suffice.
> We just need something for fall protection, not as a working surface. I think if we close off a minimum of 2 landings below whatever floor we're working on, that would be well within the reasonable realm of safety. Thoughts?


akrause,
The square yellow/black icon with twin mountain peeks is for inserting images using URL of your image.
Or to download image stored on your computer you can also do this, below the box where you are typing your replies there are four boxes 
and the second box has this text in it:
"Valid file extensions: bmp doc gif jpe jpeg jpg pdf png psd txt xls zip"
Click on: "Manage Attachments" and follow the instructions.
Hope this helps.


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## EveryDay (Mar 23, 2019)

*"we can ratchet strap the hell out of it to the railings & posts"
*
Just make sure the railings and posts can withstand the tension and will not get ripped out of their places.


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## EveryDay (Mar 23, 2019)

*"I wish I could put a photo up here but I don't see a way to do it."*
akrause,
The square yellow/black icon with twin mountain peeks is for inserting images using URL of your image.
Or to download image stored on your computer you can also do this, below the box where you are typing your replies there are four boxes 
and the second box has this text in it:
"Valid file extensions: bmp doc gif jpe jpeg jpg pdf png psd txt xls zip"
Click on: "Manage Attachments" and follow the instructions.
Hope this helps.

I'm surprised that with 500 views nobody helped you with this yet. 
I'm sure Mods know how to post images here.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

*“Attachments and Images*
How do I attach a file to a post?

To attach a file to your post, you need to be using the main 'New Post' or 'New Thread' page and not 'Quick Reply'. To use the main 'New Post' page, click the 'Post Reply' button in the relevant thread.

On this page, below the message box, you will find a button labelled 'Manage Attachments'. Clicking this button will open a new window for uploading attachments. You can upload an attachment either from your computer or from another URL by using the appropriate box on this page. Alternatively you can click the Attachment Icon to open this page.

To upload a file from your computer, click the 'Browse' button and locate the file. To upload a file from another URL, enter the full URL for the file in the second box on this page. Once you have completed one of the boxes, click 'Upload'.

Once the upload is completed the file name will appear below the input boxes in this window. You can then close the window to return to the new post screen.

What files types can I use? How large can attachments be?

In the attachment window you will find a list of the allowed file types and their maximum sizes. Files that are larger than these sizes will be rejected. There may also be an overall quota limit to the number of attachments you can post to the board.

How do I add an image to a post?

If you have uploaded an image as an attachment, you can click the arrow next to the 'Attachment Icon' and select it from the list. This will be inserted into your post and can be located where you want it displayed.

To include an image that is not uploaded as an attachment and is located on another website, you can do so by copying the full URL to the image, (not the page on which the image is located), and either pressing the 'Insert Image' icon or by typing







after it, ensuring that you do not have any spaces before or after the URL of the image. You can insert pictures from your albums (?) in this way too.”


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

All of this information about using the forum, posting pics, using quotes, etc. is available in the FAQ page located under the Quick Links tab.


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