Ladders in accordance with GOST. Regulatory requirements and standards for portable (metal, wood, combined) ladders, stepladders

All developers want to have an attractive interior in their buildings, this also applies to structural structures located in stairwells. But at the same time, certain regulations, norms and standards must be taken into account in combination with their comfortable functionality.

Sometimes it also happens that in a working project the staircase on the drawing is made in accordance with GOST, and already during construction, as they say, “the unacceptable is allowed” for the sake of design enchanting. Here, of course, fundamental designer supervision is necessary.

So, if the design of industrial and civil construction is carried out in compliance with the requirements of construction documentation, then in private development, especially when building housing with your own hands, there are violations.

It also happens that even competent and professional planners, designers, sometimes yielding to the wishes of the owner of an individual building, unnecessarily give free rein to their creativity and fantasies, which contradict the current construction documents.

Note!
When designing and erecting any purpose of staircase structures and their fences, in addition to their attractive appearance, special and main attention should be paid to their safe, convenient and comfortable use, taking into account the building codes and regulations set out in the relevant SNiP and GOST documents for stairs.

But in our daily household and industrial activities, we often have to use, operate and non-stationary staircase structures, which should also be safe and comfortable to use.

Regulatory and legal documents

Before designing, producing ready-made elements of stairs or when erecting them, on site, with your own hands, you need to familiarize yourself with problem-oriented state standards, GOST for stairs and stepladders and GOST for stair railings, listed below:

• GOST 9818 - 85 "Marches and landings of stairs reinforced concrete".
• GOST 23120 - 78 “Flight stairs, platforms and steel railings. Technical conditions ".
• GOST 25772 - 83 "Steel railings for stairs, balconies and roofs".
• GOST 26887 - 86 “Platforms and stairs for construction and installation works. General technical conditions ".
• GOST R53254 - 2009 “Fire fighting equipment. External stationary fire ladders. Roof fencing. General technical requirements ".
• GOST 8556 - 72 “Hand-made wooden fire ladders. Technical conditions ".
• Federal Law of July 22, 2008 No. 123 - FZ "Technical Regulations on Fire Safety Requirements".
• GOST R ISO 14122 - 3 - 2009 “Safety of machinery. The means of access to the machines are stationary. Part 3. Stairs and railings ”.
• GOST 24258 - 88 “Scaffolds. General technical conditions ".
• GOST 26887 - 86 "Platforms and stairs for construction and installation works."
• GOST 12.4.059 - 89 SSBT “Construction. Inventory safety fences. General technical conditions ".
• POT R M - 012 - 2000 "Interindustry rules on labor protection when working at height".
• RD 34.03.204 "Safety rules when working with tools and devices."
• GOST 21.101 - 97 “System of design documentation for construction. Basic requirements for design and working documentation ".

Regulatory requirements and standards for portable (metal, wood, combined) ladders, stepladders

According to their functionality, the stairs are divided into the following types:

1. Stationary.
2. Transformable (for example, telescopic).
3. Portable (movable, movable).

On stationary stairs, everything is more or less clear, their varieties even appear in the very names of regulatory documents. But I wonder what kind of documentation, norms, rules and standards, and what is spelled out about safety, requirements for non-stationary structures, their operation, maintenance and testing?

A really very interesting question for those who design, make and use portable, attached, transformable ladders, step-ladders. Also, those responsible for the protection and safety of labor in organizations should know what regulatory acts, SNiP, GOST on ladder ladders to apply which GOSTs for testing ladders and stepladders to use in their control and supervisory activities.

Labor protection specialists in charge of enterprises where non-stationary ladders are widely used in repair, construction and installation work, to familiarize themselves with the requirements for their manufacture, use and testing, should refer to the following building codes and regulations, state standards, guideline documents:

1. RD 34.03.204 "Safety rules when working with tools and devices."
2. POT R M - 012 - 2000 "Interindustry rules on labor protection when working at height".
3. GOST 24258 - 88 “Scaffolds. General technical conditions ".
4. GOST 26887 - 86 "Platforms and stairs for construction and installation works."
5. SNiP 12 - 03 - 2001 “Labor safety in construction. Part 1. General requirements "(Subclause 7.4 Safety requirements for the operation of mechanization equipment, paving equipment, rigging, hand-held machines and tools).

Note!
To familiarize yourself and expand your horizons, it will not hurt to look at the Ukrainian document OST 11 091 - 125 - 76 “Stepladders and attached ladders. Safety requirements".

Ladders made for repair, installation and construction work according to the standards are divided into the following types:

• hinged;
• added vertical;
• attached inclined.

From the above regulations and construction documents, the following regulatory information and requirements that must be complied with follow:

1. In accordance with the regulatory documents, SNiP, GOST for wooden stairs, staircase structures made of metal, all of them must be subject to constant visual inspection.They must contain the following information and information:

• Timing of the next tests;
• Belonging to a specific production unit (for example, a site, a workshop) with an assigned inventory number.

Note!
This information is applied on the bowstrings of ladders made of wood and metal, and an information tag is attached to the rope ladders.

2. Non-inventory means of paving (auxiliary equipment and structures that provide construction and installation work and repairs), which include ladders and stepladders, are made of the following materials:
   • metal - aluminum alloys and steel;
   • wood - sawn timber of coniferous species of selected grades (grade 1 and 2), in accordance with the paragraph "Safety requirements for the operation of mechanization equipment, paving equipment, equipment, manual machines and tools" in SNiP 12 - 03 - 2001 "Labor safety in construction. Part 1. General requirements ".
3. Wooden ladders should not be longer than 5 meters, and the angle of inclination during climbing should not exceed 60 degrees.

Note!
Special requirements for fire escapes, for their standard sizes and designs, instructions for their acceptance and testing are set out in GOST 8556 - 72 “Hand-made wooden fire ladders. Technical conditions ".

4. The requirements for the dimensions of the width of ladders and stepladders, the bowstrings of which must taper towards the top, are as follows:
   • at the bottom - 400 mm and more;
   • at the top - 300 mm and more.
5. In the production of wood products:

• the steps cut tightly into the sides of the ladder bowstrings;

Note!
It is forbidden to use ladder structures knocked down only by nails.

• every 2 meters, the bowstrings are tightened with bolts (from 8 mm or more) using tightening fasteners (metal rods with a bolt thread);

Note!
Products with a length of 3 meters or more must be fastened with two tie bolts under the lower and upper steps.

• to strengthen the assembly of steps to the bowstring, only moisture-resistant glue is used;
• the spikes of the steps should fit into the grooves of the bowstring tightly, without gaps and not hang out in them;

Note!
In this design, wedging of the step spikes is not allowed.

• required distances: between adjacent steps must lie in the range from 30 cm to 34 cm; between the sidewalls - from 45 cm to 80 cm;
• the height from the surface of the floor, slab or ground to the first step must be less than 40 cm.

It should be noted that there are no separate GOSTs for testing ladders and step-ladders that belong to portable structures, and they are produced according to TU (technical conditions). Therefore, tests are conducted more on the basis of the manufacturer's corporate understanding of the strength and reliability of their products.

It is worth noting that in the EU countries there is a standard - EN131-4 "Single- and multi-hinged ladders", which includes test methods for bending, strength, torsion and lateral deviations.

Note!
Separate Russian state standards have been developed for manual and hinged rescue ladder firefighters: GOST R 53275 - 2009 “Fire fighting equipment. Manual fire ladders. General technical requirements. Test methods "; GOST R 53276 - 2009 “Fire fighting equipment. Fire rescue hinged ladders. General technical requirements. Test methods ".

At the same time, during laboratory and field tests, it is generally accepted to test portable ladders and stepladders with a static load of 120 kgf, which acts on the step of the span.

The terms of testing portable ladders, in accordance with SNiP 12 - 03 - 2001, are as follows:

• from wood - once every six months;
• metal - 1 per year.

To prevent industrial injuries, ladder products must be supplied with the lower ends of the bowstring with additional devices that prevent them from sliding over the surface and overturning (POT R M - 012 - 2000 subparagraph 2.3.4).

These, depending on the surface, may be the following devices:

• on the ground - fittings with tips for fixing;
• on smooth surfaces such as dielectric rubber shoes.

On any surface, in order not to allow the ladder to overturn with a person, it is not allowed to place ladder structures with a slope angle of more than 75 degrees, without its additional fixation in the upper part.

Note!
Before each start of work with portable ladders, ladders, their visual inspection is necessary, and they can only be operated by observing the safety and insurance rules, according to POT R M - 012 - 2000.

Fences of non-stationary staircase structures for construction, repair and other work at height

The current state standards regulate the size of fences that are used in construction, repair and other industrial work at height.

Stair railings in accordance with GOST, for attached structures with a height of 5 meters or more:

• with an angle of inclination of 75 degrees or more, a fence made of arcs should be provided from a height of 2 meters.
• with a slope of 70-75 degrees - handrails from a 5 meter mark, the vertical heights of such a handrail should be in the range from 900 mm to 1400 mm.

For hinged staircase products with a length of more than 5 meters (vertical and with an angle to the horizon of more than 75 degrees), GOST for staircase railing provides for a mandatory arc railing:

• with a distance between arcs no more than 0.8 meters;
• arcs from the stairs should be located no closer than 0.7 and no further than 0.8 meters.

If there are platforms, for example, on portable, mobile or rolling staircases, then they must have rails with a height of at least 1.0 meters and side rails from 0.1 meters.

For more information on the topic, watch the video in this article.

conclusions

Failure to comply with the requirements of the current GOST, SNiP and guidance documents regulating labor safety rules at height, there may be an industrial injury - and this is still the minimum price for such violations.