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bannisters on landings....

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  • Honestly, I did try to get the council to make my stair case safe.., contacting my Housing Manager, even thru the Decent Homes Scheme.., and housing management in the Civic Centre. Did not matter how much I pointed out the risk of injury.., and the regulations, was just told they applied only to new builds. My housing manager was quite rude in the end. So I replaced the staircase myself.., even tho I am extremely short of money, at a cost of £100, it was money well spent.
  • poppysarah
    poppysarah Posts: 11,522 Forumite
    What risk of injury?

    A child playing on stairs doesn't need big gaps in banisters to fall and injure themself.

    Stair gate at the bottom and stair gate at the top and teach the child to behave.
  • LandyAndy
    LandyAndy Posts: 26,377 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts
    Doozergirl wrote: »
    Three generations of our family got their heads stuck in the gaps between my grandparents' stairs as children. 1950/60s house over four floors, gaps between each tread up from the lounge. You'd think a kid would learn but I can still remember the burning sensation on my ears as I'd have to be prised out. Again. I must have only stopped when my head really did get too big :o

    .

    To extract someone with their head stuck in railings, staircases etc turn them on their back so that their head comes out face first, the way it went in. Much easier than trying to get them out with their ears in the way.;)
  • clutton_2
    clutton_2 Posts: 11,149 Forumite
    I disagree with most of the posters here today.. i was instructed by a local council HHSRS inspector that i had to close the gap in the bannnisters in onen of my rental properties to 100mm to stop a child falling through ... it was not a Grade 1 risk, but, i would rather spend a few quid installing extra verticals than face a tenant in court over a damaged child....

    Irrespective of HHSRS landlords have a duty of care under Health and Safety Legislation
  • Thanks Clutton, so HHSRS seems to cover bannisters then. That means you don't have to rely on building regs.

    Simple then - write (nicely) to ask for it to be modified, referring to the relevant HHSRS guideline. If nothing happens, call in environmental health to inspect.

    Be aware than involving the authorities might upset the LL, but it's probably the right thing to do in the long term.
  • clb776
    clb776 Posts: 647 Forumite
    The reason I asked was because my one year old son did fall through. From the landing to the floor, the height if a staircase! I have fixed it myself now, my landlord is terrible! Been asking for months for them to sort it out! my son was walking in front of me when it happened and fell, I was too late to catch him. I never let him play on the stairs, it was a horrible accident, I just let him walk in front of me from the bathroom to the bedroom, luckily he wasn't hurt, it was just scary and a few hours up hospital!! When you rent a property it should be safe, regardless of when it was built! I am paying money to live there, I shouldn't then gave to pay more for it to be habitable.
  • Tiddlywinks
    Tiddlywinks Posts: 5,777 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    clb776 wrote: »
    The reason I asked was because my one year old son did fall through. From the landing to the floor, the height if a staircase! I have fixed it myself now, my landlord is terrible! Been asking for months for them to sort it out! my son was walking in front of me when it happened and fell, I was too late to catch him. I never let him play on the stairs, it was a horrible accident, I just let him walk in front of me from the bathroom to the bedroom, luckily he wasn't hurt, it was just scary and a few hours up hospital!! When you rent a property it should be safe, regardless of when it was built! I am paying money to live there, I shouldn't then gave to pay more for it to be habitable.

    Sorry to hear about the accident BUT you knew that this was a risk area 'for months' yet you still did nothing yourself to minimise the risk (say by closing the gaps with a temporary fix).

    I don't want to sound unsympathetic but sometimes people should take action immediately and not wait for someone else to fix it just because they feel it is the LL's job.
    :hello:
  • wrightk
    wrightk Posts: 975 Forumite
    yes we had our bannisters looked at by the EHO in our rental property. It is covered by HHSRS, especially if there are young children living on the floor where the bannister is.

    Like the others said the gaps between bannister,spindles etc should not allow 100mm sphere to pass through.


    Also the height of the bannister should be no less than 1100mm
    Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, and for once I'm inclined to believe Withnail is right. We are indeed drifting into the arena of the unwell.
  • clb776
    clb776 Posts: 647 Forumite
    Sorry to hear about the accident BUT you knew that this was a risk area 'for months' yet you still did nothing yourself to minimise the risk (say by closing the gaps with a temporary fix).

    I don't want to sound unsympathetic but sometimes people should take action immediately and not wait for someone else to fix it just because they feel it is the LL's job.

    Yea, I understand what you mean, and totally agree. I know I should have done it sooner myself, but no spare money to do it meant I kept putting it off, and didn't let him anywhere near there! Was just a silly accident, and I am so thankful nothing serious happened because it could have killed him! £50 is nothing compared to that!! But when you don't realise that, £50 is a fortnights shopping and hard to put aside for something else!!
  • Tiddlywinks
    Tiddlywinks Posts: 5,777 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    clb776 wrote: »
    Yea, I understand what you mean, and totally agree. I know I should have done it sooner myself, but no spare money to do it meant I kept putting it off, and didn't let him anywhere near there! Was just a silly accident, and I am so thankful nothing serious happened because it could have killed him! £50 is nothing compared to that!! But when you don't realise that, £50 is a fortnights shopping and hard to put aside for something else!!

    Doesn't have to be expensive - you could have asked on Freecycle for the raw materials or fixed on folded down cardboard boxes (can be very rigid) which you can get free from supermarkets. Short term fixes don't have to be pretty, they just need to do the job, which in this case was to temporarily fill the gaps, until a more permanent solution is found.
    :hello:
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