Standard Guardrails and Related Systems – Challenge and Opportunities

Ralph L. Barnett^1,

¹Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, Chairman, Triodyne Inc., 450 Skokie Blvd. #604, Northbrook, IL 60062

Cite this paper:
Ralph L. Barnett. Standard Guardrails and Related Systems – Challenge and Opportunities. American Journal of Mechanical Engineering. 2022; 10(1):17-27. doi: 10.12691/ajme-10-1-3

Abstract

Safety fences define safe from unsafe regions and safeguard against falls into such regions. Standards define their required strength and stiffness and specify critical aspects of their geometry. It is implicit that the community of users of safety fences are responsible adults with the further understanding that all ambulatory humans can willfully breach these structures. Despite their de minimis design constraints, technologists have not understood nor met the safety challenges posed by these simple, classical, and ubiquitous structures. The purpose of this paper is to identify a few of the safety shortcomings of fence technology which include the fundamental problem of anthropometric guarding, improperly written standards, the challenge of corrosion, dangerous testing protocols, and the creation of testing hardware.

Keywords:
guardrail fence railing parapet safety railing handrail barrier

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Galileo, “Two New Sciences,” English translation by Henry Crew and Alphonso de Salvio, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1933.
[2]	ANSI/ASSE A1264.1-2007, “Safety Requirements for Workplace Walking/Working Surfaces and Their Access; Workplace, Floor, Wall and Roof Openings; Stairs and Guardrail Systems” American National Standards Institute Inc., New York, NY., American Society of Safety Engineers, Des Plaines, IL., 2007.
[3]	OSHA 1910.29, Occupational Safety and Health Organization, Washington D.C., 2019.
[4]	ASA A12-1932, “American Standard Safety Code for Floor and Wall Openings, Railings, and Toe Boards” American Standards Association, New York, NY., 1932.
[5]	USAS A12.1-1967, “Safety Requirements for Floor and Wall Openings, Railings, and Toe Boards” United States of America Standards Institute, New York, NY., 1967.
[6]	OSHA 1910.23, Occupational Safety and Health Organization, Washington D.C., 1971.
[7]	ANSI A12.1-1973, “Safety Requirements for Floor and Wall Openings, Railings, and Toe Boards” American National Standards Institute Inc., New York, NY., 1973. www.ansi.org.
[8]	OSHA 1910.23, Occupational Safety and Health Organization, Washington D.C., 1978.
[9]	ANSI A1264.1-1989, “Safety Requirements for Workplace Floor and Wall Openings, Stairs, and Railing Systems” American National Standards Institute Inc., New York, NY., 1989. www.ansi.org.
[10]	ANSI A1264.1-1995, “Safety Requirements for Workplace Floor and Wall Openings, Stairs, and Railing Systems” American National Standards Institute Inc., New York, NY., 1995. www.ansi.org.
[11]	OSHA 1926.502, Occupational Safety and Health Organization, Washington D.C., 1995.
[12]	ANSI A1264.1-2002, “Safety Requirements for Workplace Floor and Wall Openings, Stairs, and Railing Systems” American National Standards Institute Inc., New York, NY., 2002. www.ansi.org.
[13]	ASTM E985-00e1, “Standard Specification for Permanent Metal Railing Systems and rails for Buildings” American Society of Testing Materials, West Conshohocken, PA., August 2000.
[14]	Armando Pinto and Luis Reis, “Barrier for Buildings: Analysis of Mechanical resistance Requirements”, Procedia Structural Integrity 1, Elsevier B.V., 2016, 281-288.
[15]	Henry Dreyfuss, “The Measure of Man, Human Factors in Design”, Whitney Library of Design, New York, 1967.
[16]	R.L. Barnett and T. Liber, “Human Push Capability”, Ergonomics, Vol. 49, No. 3, February, 2006.
[17]	Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd., Shanghai LTI Automobile Components Co Ltd., Handrail testing apparatus and test method of handrail strength. Chinese Patent CN 103033347A. 18 March 2015.
[18]	Romeo E. Garcia and Michael Lanclos, Handrail Testing Apparatus. World Intellectual Property Organization Patent WO 02/27291A2. 4 April 2002.
[19]	E. George Stern, “Field Testing Device for Railing Systems and Rails”, Journal of Testing and Evaluation, JTEVA, Vol. 16, No. 6, November 1988, 546-548.
[20]	Louis Tombazzi, Handrail Testing Device. United States Patent US 2008/0276715A1. 13 November 2008.
[21]	E.A. McKenzie Jr., T. G. Bobick, and D. M. Cantis, “Design of testing apparatus to evaluate the strength of guardrail systems.” In ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, vol. 47209, 2004, 137-142.
[22]	Department of Transport, “Pedestrian Guardrailing,” Local Transport Note 2/09, TSO (The Stationary Office) UK, April 2009
[23]	Blake Buckner, “Between the Posts: Research on the Cap and Top Rail to Guardrail Post Connection,” University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 2013.
[24]	E. A. McKenzie Jr., and Thomas G. Bobick, “Techniques for building an OSHA compliant guardrail structure,” Wood Design Focus, Vol. 23, No. 1, Spring 2013, 13-27.
[25]	NYC Buildings, “Summary compilation of industry discussions regarding code sections pertaining to balconies, enclosures, handrails, and guards,” (https://www.superstructures.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DOB-Industry-summary-for-balconies-guards-enclosures-July-31-2014-.pdf), Super Structures Engineers & Architects, New York, July 2014.
[26]	Thomas Bobick, Brandon Takacs, E. A. McKenzie, Mark D. Fullen, and Douglas Cantis, “NIOSH Guardrail System–From Research to Field.”, elcosh (Electronic Library of Construction Occupational Safety & Health), (this was presented as paper #703 at 2015 ASSE annual meeting), CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training created by the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO.
[27]	E. A. McKenzie Jr., and Thomas G. Bobick, “Techniques for building an OSHA compliant guardrail structure,” PubMed, PMC 4770815, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, February 2016.
[28]	Connor S. Klinzing, “Analysis of Construction Fall Protection Guardrails in a Population with Changing Anthropometrics,” Eastern Illinois University, 2019.
[29]	H. Muggenthaler, M. Hubig, A. Meierhofer, and G. Mall, “Slip and tilt: modeling falls over railings,” International Journal of Legal Medicine, Vol. 135, No. 1, 2021, 245-251.
[30]	Matthew T. Blackmer, and Edward L. Fronapfel, “Deflections in deck and balcony railings,” Lerch Bates Building Insight, January 2022.