From the course: Occupational Safety and Health: Slips, Trips, and Falls

Temporary ramps and walkways

- If you happened to look at the title to this segment, you might have noticed it says, "Temporary Ramps and Walkways." Now, there are many different building codes that regulate permanent ramps and walkways that are part of a facility or a site. And these can really vary depending on the location, the jurisdiction and their use. You know, there are codes for wheelchair accessible ramps, walkways used for pedestrians and many more. So I'll let the building codes tackle the requirement for these permanent ramps and walkways. And what we'll discuss here are those temporary ramps that we build to access sites and work areas, and those temporary walkways that we create on job sites during activities like construction, maintenance, setup, inventory stocking and all those other times when we find it necessary to build a ramp or a walkway. So first, let's talk about when we might create these temporary paths or actually let's look at some times when we need to create them. So one instance is when there are changes in elevation that are greater than 19 inches or about 48 centimeters. In this case, it's really necessary to add a ramp or steps to make sure that people don't slip and fall as they go up and down that elevation change. Another instance would be anytime we have a surface that's not safe or easy to walk on. So, for example, construction sites, we may have a dirt lot between where we park and where we access the building. And that could turn into a muddy mess when it rains. So in this case, we would build a wooden walkway as a path over the dirt to eliminate the need for people to walk in the mud, which can be a definite slip hazard. Now whether you're building a ramp or a temporary wooden walkway, there are a few things you need to consider, ramps and walkways need to be strong enough to support the anticipated weight. And you might need to get some help from a competent person who can evaluate this. It depends on how far the ramp needs to span along with things like, will it just be for foot traffic? Will you be wheeling carts up and down, or does it need to support equipment too? Now, ramps and walkways need to be secured so they don't move when people walk up and down on them and they shouldn't bounce to the point of the end of the ramp, bouncing up and down so that it becomes its own trip hazard. The minimum widths of ramps and walkways needs to be at least 18 inches or about 46 centimeters. This means you can't just use something like a single scaffold plank, which is usually only 12 inches or 30 centimeters wide. That's just too narrow to be safe. Now, two or more of those scaffold planks cleated together, that works. Plywood also makes a good, wider ramp or walkway when it's built and supported properly. And in order to keep people from slipping or struggling to get up and down these ramps and walkways, the slope should be no more than eight to one. This means that for every one foot of elevation change, the ramp is eight feet long. If it's any steeper than that you should add cleats, spaced no more than 14 inches or 35 centimeters apart, to the surface of the ramp to increase traction. Now, these cleats though can also be a trip hazard so people need to be careful on this type of ramp, but cleats are needed when the ramp is steep to prevent slipping. Now, with the cleats added the ramp still shouldn't be any steeper than three to one, any steeper than that, and you need to do things like, start adding stair rails that people can hold on to the sides so they can use those to help them get up and down. And at this point you may just want to consider using something like temporary stairs, which might be less of a slipping hazard than a steep ramp. Now, these minimum widths and maximum slopes should be used whether it's a ramp or a walkway that's constructed of lumber, steel or other materials, or it's a path grated into the dirt or a walkway between pallets and inventory that's piled up on the floor. It's also important to consider things like slip resistance and good housekeeping to keep these pathways clear and free of trip hazards and unprotected sides and edges, might require you to add guardrails. Now, I'll cover each of those topics after I discuss stairs and steps, which is up next.

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