OSHA design loads for temporary stairs 3

[Guest090822]

Does anyone know the OSHA design loading requirements for temporary stairs used on a construction site? I know this falls under OSHA 1926.1050 - Stairways and Ladders but no loads are given. There is a different section of OSHA stating that the capacity needs to be 5 times greater than the anticipated live load or 1,000 pounds minimum, but that isn't for construction sites.

Not sure if I should just use the ASCE 7 requirements of 100 psf or 300 pound concentrated load.

Any suggestions?

 

[Enable]

I'm bound by the OHSA (stupidly similar spelling to OSHA but very different lol) and here is the requirement for temporary stairs: temp stair design in Ontario

The exact sections of the act are as follows

76. (1) Temporary stairs and landings shall be designed, constructed and maintained to support a live load of 4.8 kilonewtons per square metre without exceeding the allowable unit stresses for each material used. O. Reg. 213/91, s. 76 (1).

(2) No temporary stair or landing shall be loaded in excess of the load it is designed and constructed to bear. O. Reg. 213/91, s. 76 (2).

For guardrail loadings on temporary stairs we use this IHSA document. But specific act provisions are below:

(5) A guardrail system shall be capable of resisting anywhere along the length of the system the following loads when applied separately, without exceeding the allowable unit stress for each material used:

1. A point load of 675 newtons applied in a lateral direction to the top rail.

2. A point load of 450 newtons applied in a vertical downward direction to the top rail.

3. A point load of 450 newtons applied in a lateral or vertical downward direction to the intermediate rail, or midway between the top rail and the toe board.

4. A point load of 225 newtons applied in a lateral direction to the toe board. O. Reg. 145/00, s. 14

BTW "temporary" is not really temporary if things are in-place for prolonged periods of time and I usually wind up designing my temp stairs and such for occupancy loading.

 

[Guest090822]

Enable-thanks, I have to work out the conversion of units.

This is most definitely temporary, but will be in place for 4 months.

 

[MotorCity]

Practically speaking, the stair load should be the same whether temporary or permanent. The stairs don't know they're only temporary.
"The stair don't care"

 

[Guest090822]

MotorCity & Enable - The "temporary" designation has more to do with which OSHA standard this falls under. In this case, OSHA 1926 is for Construction purposes which may or may not have different loading criteria.

 

[le99]

This is not to suggest which code to follow or load to be imposed, but a practical consideration that a "temporary" stair in the construction site could experience a heavier live load, have more frequent uses, and suffer more abuses. OSHA will question the design only after an accident has occurred through the use of it.

 

[Guest090822]

The main issue is that OSHA does not list the loading criteria in section 1926.

Rather than get a bunch of incorrect or overly conservative answers here, I’ve sent my question directly to OSHA.

I was hoping someone maybe knew of where the
loading was listed but it doesn’t appear to be the case.

 

[dik]

You'll post the results?

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[le99]

Since 1910.26 does not indicate the specific design load for the construction stairs, I suggest investigating the "general requirement" for clues.

1910.22(b) Loads. The employer must ensure that each walking-working surface can support the maximum intended load for that surface.

1810.21(a) Scope. This subpart applies to all general industry workplaces. It covers all walking-working surfaces unless specifically excluded by an individual section of this subpart.

1910.21(b) Definitions.

- Maximum intended load means the total load (weight and force) of all employees, equipment, vehicles, tools, materials, and other loads the employer reasonably anticipates to be applied to a walking-working surface at any one time.

 

[Guest090822]

le99 - if you’re an engineer then you already know that stating “the maximum intended loads”
is a useless statement. We could poll 100 engineers on this forum and get a different answer as to what that load should be.

I’m just surprised that a minimum loading isn’t called out somewhere. In theis day and age there is always a minimum.

I’ll wait for a response from OSHA, although it will likely be as useless as what’s already written.

 

[Lomarandil]

Other construction access platforms, etc., can be designed and posted for a specific load level. I would expect that stairs are similar.

----
just call me Lo.

 

[JStephen]

You may or may not get a useful answer back in a reasonable time. But keep in mind that the people at OSHA are in pretty much the same boat- check the rules for an answer, there isn't one, so then what.
It seems to me that in years past, in interpretations and rulemaking, there wasn't really any effort to make the construction standards different from the general industry standards. So my guess is that any quick answer is going to "just use the general industry loads".
You can get formal interpretations from OSHA. In years past, this meant sometimes the question got answered in six months, sometimes it just permanently disappeared to be never heard of again. So it may be useful for future reference, but seldom helps with the issue at hand.
One other thing you might check, is that OSHA does have rules for a lot of different kinds of scaffolding, and I wouldn't expect that the loads and safety factors used there were a lot different from what they would expect for stairway design. IE, if the stairs go to a platform and the platform is required to be designed for some load, then the stair could probably use that same load.

 

[Guest090822]

Thanks everyone for replies. I won’t be checking this thread again. Seems nobody else knows the answer and everyone has found the same information that I have.

 

[le99]

I interrelate the "maximum intended" load as the "maximum possible" load to be the design load.