AegisFPE
Silver Member
That statistic is misleading for the subject case for multiple reasons:jhansen said:12,000 people dont fall down stairs, 12,000 people die when they fall down stairs. Stairs are by far the number one hazard in a SFR..... The number of accidents are much much higher.
1. The subject project already has 1 MOE stair which could be part of these statistics.
2. The offered statistics do not indicate the number of fatal falls attributed to spiral stairs (I am guessing this number would be minor, in part due to the limited number of spiral stairs compared to straight runs, and further due to the geometry where the victim is apt to fall into the spiral railing, which may tend to limit the falling person's velocity or distance, whereas the only thing to break your fall in a straight run is the bottom landing.)
3. It is not stated how many of the incidents occurred where an alternative stair was present. If I visit the subject project, I have the choice of going down the spiral stair or the compliant MOE. If I feel uncomfortable about traversing the spiral stairs, the MOE stairs are available to me, posing no greater risk than compliant MOE stairs in another home.
Therefore, with the addition of the spiral staircase, the minimum requirements for MOE stairs are still met such that the provisions of the code are satisfied.