When designing a commercial building in Australia, accessibility and safety are not just a good practice to follow, it is a requirement, clearly stated in the Australian Standards. However, these are often neglected especially when it comes to something which most individuals consider silly and useless- Handrail, until it saves their day. While careful assessment is important while designing stage, it would merely make a difference if the handrails are wrongly measured, fabricated or installed.
Aussie Stairs as a company believes in giving, because it is not just about projects, it is about people for us. Having this ideology, we fabricate and install complying with the Australian Standards FOR people as every single requirement outlined in the Australian Standards has a purpose that aligns with the values our company holds high- Inclusivity and Safety.
1. Minimum Clearance between two parallel Handrails
AS 1657:2018 makes clear the requirement of having a minimum clearance of 1000mm between two parallel handrails. Seems pretty baseless in theory, however it is to make it universal accessible and safe. Inclusivity, in this day and age is considered cornerstone for a progressing society and this standard is for the same cause as a distance of1000mm allows those in wheelchairs or having any disability move comfortably. Not just that, in cases of fire or emergency, an area at least 1000mm wide will allow enough space to pass through and vacant the building with lesser traffic.
2. Distance from Nosing to Handrail
Australian Standards are set up after practically examining the scenarios and based on such trials, 865-1000mmiis considered to be an ideal height for all and sundry to grip the rail including those using mobility aids and even children, promoting the idea of inclusivity. Considering your safety as our responsibility, at stairs, we keep the handrail around 920mm high, while on flat surfaces, our requirement is a bit higher, around 950mm considering humans are less vigilant at flat areas and therefore more likely to fall down. Hence, it acts as a barrier rather than graspable support.
3. Hand Clearance
All these standards in absence of accessibility would be useless, that is why there must be at least 50 mm gap between the inner edge of the handrail and any adjacent wall or surface to provide enough space to grab it.
4. Hockey-like Endings
The handrail in addition to being continuous needs to have hockey-like endings. This primary reason is to prevent fall risks caused by being stuck at the sharp ends. It also assists visually impaired people to determine where the handrail terminates. At the bottom where the rail ends, the dimension needs to be equal to the last going+300 and at the top it is 300.
Hence, it can now be concluded that each and every standard has been set up with some practical logic and hence must be followed rigorously.
