TECHNICAL INSIGHTS
TECHNICAL INSIGHTS The articles featured in Technical Insights are to prompt thought and discussion to assist our members' questions and evaluate their understanding of the technical requirements of Australian Standards and other national/international source material. Technical Insights is intended to provide background information, a different viewpoint, a perspective from an individual with lived experience of disability or to prompt further discussion and/or research by you as an access professional.
Handrail Profiles by Howard Moutrie
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ince 2010, AS1428.1 permits handrails to be round or elliptical, though for many years, only round handrails were permitted. Is this restriction valid and can other shapes be just as functional? Firstly, lets look at how handrails have developed. Traditionally they were made of timber, were square or rectangular in shape with a rounded top. See the typical profile in the image below. Much of the bulk of these handrails was for structural reasons – to span between supports and to withstand the horizontal forces which may be applied.
With the increased use of steel, pipe handrails became popular, particularly in non-residential buildings. The use of a circular section makes sense - looking at the profile of a gripping hand, see below, it can be seen that a circular shape results, particularly at small diameters, but it can also be seen that at larger diameters, a more elliptical shape is formed. But steel or timber 16
doesn’t easily form into this shape, though extruded aluminium does. Architects often like to use a minimal flat horizontal section, but under AS 1428.1 these are not permitted. Is the restriction of the profile to circular or elliptical valid?
The handrail has 2 primary functions, firstly as a guide as a person moves up or down the stair or ramp, and this may include a pull-up function when ascending a stair or ramp and secondly, it can be used as a stabiliser when a loss of balance has occurred. The latter requires a higher level of 'gripability'. Templar, in his book The Staircase, suggests that in this latter condition it is important to provide as much hand area to the handrail as possible to avoid tissue damage and discomfort and thus handrails with elaborate mouldings are undesirable. Maki and Fernie, in their research concluded that for the elderly, or people with reduced wrist and forearm function, a handrail with a wide flat upper surface may limit the amount of force that can be applied and thus is not ideal. Templar also considered the handrail
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