Accessible temporary staging

[James]

Looking to put a temporary stage into a hall for an event. Proposed deck height of 600mm.

 

The event organisers need this to be accessible and there is suggestion that if we were to use ramps then they need to be compliant with Part M. (Gradient between 1:12 and 1:20, handrails on both sides, 1.5m ramp width. Etc...) which given my maths leads to at least a 12m long ramp being required...

 

Has anyone encorporated ramps into temporary staging and do you believe part m applies here. If not is there any relevant legislation or published industry guidance you would recommend for research on the subject.

 

Thank you.

 

James

[DrV]

Surely 1:12 gives you 7.2m doesn't it? Still not short but a lot better than 12m

[timsabre]

Is this staging for general public/audience or performers?

[mar]

An alternative with a smaller footprint would be to try and hire a portable wheelchair lift similar to this:

 

link

 

We had one at my old place of work to get wheelchairs onto stage and it was fairly simple. No idea how easy or expensive it would be to hire one though.

[mac.calder]

I don't know the UK regs - however if there is a regulated gradient and width for accessible ramps - even if you could argue that being a temporary structure you do not have to comply with construction guidelines for accessibility, the figures they use for that ramp would come from some research done by some people somewhere - to ignore that is silly.

 

1:12 is pretty much a universal figure for unassisted use and 1:10 for assisted use. Not just in the UK, Australia also uses those figures and 30 seconds of googling brings up those figures as the recommendation for over 15 different countries (I stopped at page 2). Something goes wrong, justifying a gradient steeper than that when the ramp was installed purely as an accessibility ramp would be really difficult.

 

1:10 is the figure given for assisted use - having someone available to assist may be one option - brings you down to a 6m ramp. A wheelchair lift is another option. Don't forget that nothing says the ramp has to be 7.2m in a straight line. Potentially you could have the ramp double back on itself so that if your stage was 8m wide the ramp could zigzag behind the stage and enter from the rear. It adds 3-4m of depth at the back of the stage - but that may be doable. Your staging supplier should be able to provide options for you to look at.

[J Pearce]

Don't forget that nothing says the ramp has to be 7.2m in a straight line. Potentially you could have the ramp double back on itself so that if your stage was 8m wide the ramp could zigzag behind the stage and enter from the rear. It adds 3-4m of depth at the back of the stage - but that may be doable.

 

It also adds a flat rest space - at 1:12 these are required every 2m, at 1:15 every 5m, at 1:20 every 10m.

 

Steeldeck do a lot of these - a look through their online gallery ought to indicate options available to you.

[Dave m]

We have a need to fit a disabled ramp on occasions to an existing stage, and it is only fitted when the need is known. I am guessing that it runs for around 15 feet , with a return .

Problem is that the handrails block the sight lines . If I had been designing it , I'd have used wire rather than wooden rails.

[ImagineerTom]

I'd have used wire rather than wooden rails.

which would have made it less practical and usable; possibly even breaching the DDA rules. Handrails and safety rails need to be solid and secure at the best of times; when they're on a ramp that's designed to aid in accessibility/mobility then you need to make sure they can be used by people with reduced mobility, impaired grip, limited motor skills as well as ensuring they're visible enough for everyone to be able to see clearly. If you made the rails (even infils) with thin wire then they will be harder to see and almost impossible to grab or utilise by anyone who has slightly reduced hand strength. Remember disability ramps aren't just used by people in wheelchairs pushed by able-bodied assistants; they're also used by pensioners with arthritis being helped to walk by their elderly spouse with poor eyesight.

[kerry davies]

Thank you Tom, saved me saying anything on the wire. It depends what the usage is and where the handrails are placed (End of a slope, end of stairs, side of staging etc) but there are several different force standards for handrails. Section 9.8 Figure 16 etc.

 

The main questions to be answered are whether this is for accompanied or unaccompanied, performer or punter and what is going to stop them flying off the front (do they really need to be up there?) Getting them up there is easy enough. Stopping them launching into space is quite another matter. And yes, I worked extensively with people like wheelchair line-dancers and no, I never allowed them off the ground. They still managed to behave like they were playing

though I rather suspect the drink didn't help.

[paulears]

We have to use a ramp to get people from outside level to auditorium level - and there is no possibility of altering the building to enable this, so we provide staff to push wheelchairs up a very steep slope - an ali loading ramp - 3m long to get up a short flight of stairs 1.2m high. Nowhere near the slope the rules specify, but short of denying access, this is our solution - and we can if necessary do the same thing to get a wheelchair up onto the stage. This is much rarer, as it's not very dignified - but our Mayor got up there with our help. Over the fifteen years we've now been doing it - we've had no issues, bar one where somebody insisted their first aider had to do it, and couldn't.

[Jivemaster]

For the purpose of the temporary staging will there ever be any need for disabled access? Will any disabled user need to propel themselves up a ramp or could pushers be provided. Several low profile scissor lifts exist, but most say not suitable for lifting people -even though it's within weight limits given.