Revise the tread width of stairs before someone falls and breaks her bones or suffer miscarriage

By Stephen Ng

The minimum specifications for stairs constructed in the country need to be revised by the local authorities together with the Board of Architects Malaysia in view of the increase in the average length of a man’s foot.

         Based on an anthropometric study of 1197 adult Caucasian males (mean age of 35.5 years) undertaken in North America, it was found that the average man's foot length was 26.3 cm (10.3 cm) with a standard deviation of 1.2 cm. This

         Many of us have longer feet compared to our grandparents. My foot measures 23 cm (9 in). My son’s foot, who is only 15, is already 23 cm (9 in).

         This is assuming that we are not wearing our shoes or sandals, but when we put on our shoes, measuring at least 254cm (10in), the tip of the shoes will hit the riser of the next step, causing us to easily tip over.

         In comparison, my home's stairs have a wider tread width of 26.5 cm (or 10.5 inches).

         This was what happened in January when I visited the Taman Ehsan Health Clinic. Although I am unlikely to visit the clinic any time in the near future, I see this as an important thing to pursue for the safety of both patients and medical personnel working at the clinic.

         After listening to various parties, including the Public Works Department, the Selangor Health Department and the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, I have only one conclusion to make.

         The specification of stairs stated in the Building Bylaws is already archaic and its minimum specification of each stair at 23 cm (9in) can no longer be accepted, as stairs built to the minimum specification can pose safety hazard to people using the stairs especially during an emergency.

        The Uniform Building Bylaws (UBBL), "the tread shall be not less than 255 millimetres." In this aspect the Ministry of Health's response is misleading since the tread of the stairs at the health clinic does not meet the specifications in the Uniform Building Bylaws. 

        In some countries, their minimum tread width is 25.4 cm (10 in) instead of 23 cm (9in). It can also go as width as 30 cm (1 foot). 

         Having spoken to the staff at the clinic, I also learnt that they are concerned about their own safety and that of the patients, especially the senior citizens who may break their legs when they fall or when a pregnant lady falls and suffers a miscarriage as a result.

         This same concern that I have made here has also been communicated to the Minister of Health, Dr Zaliha Mustafa, Minister of Local Government and Development, Nga Kor Ming and Selangor State Exco in charge of health, Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud.

         Unlike the Director-General of Health, Dr Noor Hisham who has since retired, I believe the two ministers and one state exco will take this seriously in view that this is of public interest. At this juncture, I have been informed by the Ministry of Health that they have investigated my complaint and found that the stairs were built according to specifications.

         As usual, instead of addressing the real issue, the letter stated that the officers carrying out the investigation found that the handrail had to be tightened and the light exposure readings for some of the stairs in the Outpatient Department did not meet minimum Lux meter readings.

         My pursuit, however, will not end here. Within the past three months, I have highlighted the issue of stairs at the clinic which were constructed 14 years ago.

Based on my measurement, the stairs were built based on the minimum specification of 23 cm (9 in). The moment someone falls down, breaks a leg bone or suffers from a miscarriage, I will be the first one to bring the story to the press.

After all, civil servants being civil servants, if they do not understand the importance of revising the minimum specifications, I am sure the press would be interested to put the story on page one if I happen to be there.

I encourage anyone who has experience falling down on such stairs to immediately contact the local press.


        Maybe this is a good way to solve the problem cheaply instead of demolishing the entire stairs.

DID YOU KNOW THAT...

Persistence pays when after pursuing the 999 number for a number of years, now you are able to use your mobile phone to all 999 and get to the Emergency Call Centre. It used to be 112 and no one knew that was the number to call when using a mobile phone. 

After pursuing the issue of dropped calls with Celcom, where subscribers are charged 20 sen per dropped call, now we do not have this problem anymore.  

Students at a local private university in Cheras had to use a monsoon drain near Giant in Taman Connaught to get across to the other side of the highway until an article highlighting the plight of these international students was published in Star Metro. As a result, DBKL on checking its record said that the developer which was supposed to build the flyover failed to do it. Within a year, the flyover was completed. 

And many more stories.... What we do can make the difference for society at large.

This is hopefully going to be the next achievement in my life. Hopefully it can be fixed without seeing anyone suffering from miscarriage or breaking a bone.