BrandSafway has introduced the only fully compliant temporary public access stairs and ramp in North America.
In partnership with Universal Manufacturing, BrandSafway has launched temporary public access stairs and ramp constructed from scaffolding that meets the International Building Code (IBC) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Mathieu Grumberg, director of product development at BrandSafway said: “This combined solution is one of the safest available in North America.”
According to BrandSafway IBC and ADA standards are more stringent than the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards used for construction stairs.
“Before we introduced this combined temporary public access solution, there were no true IBC- or ADA-compliant products constructed of scaffolding available,” Grumberg added. “The industry was using construction-grade stairs and adding wood and guard rails to try to make it as safe as possible and bring it up to code.”
After nearly eight months of rigorous testing and design improvements, the stair system was introduced to help minimize disruption to the public and provide safe access as needed during construction and renovation projects throughout the U.S. The access ramp, which is generally custom designed based on site-specific needs, meets the even stricter ADA requirements for safety and accessibility.
“The stairs and ramp need to meet a very high load capacity for emergency situations or events where a large number of people are using them at one time,” Grumberg said.
“We used our expertise in safety and breadth of experience in developing solutions for a diverse range of industries to help Universal improve the design and meet all standards.”
“Our products don’t get approved for use without first getting an independent engineering seal of approval to ensure we are bringing the safest solutions to the market,” said Mike Bredl, national sales manager for Universal. “We know there isn’t a solution in North America that comes close to offering the safety that this stair tower and ramp provide, and we’re excited to help meet this critical safety need in the construction industry.”