Safety For Bleachers

Bleachers, rows of bench-style seating meant to accommodate large crowds at public events, provide potential dangers as well as convenience. This form of seating, whether permanent, portable, temporary or the telescopic kind that folds up into space-saving bundles, can cause serious injury or death from falls because of the open nature of their design. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association recommends creating a "family seating" area down toward the base of the bleachers until organizations can employ modifications to reduce the risk of falls.

Hazards

• Many of the bleachers that have stood at schools or other public facilities for decades have either inadequate guardrails or no guardrails at all, mainly because building codes of earlier eras did not require such safety measures, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. As a result, these bleachers afford little or no protection against falls, posing a threat to all occupants on the ends of the bleachers but especially to children, who can fall through the open spaces afforded by poorly designed guardrails.

Design Recommendations

• The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that all bleachers have guardrails around all rows that stand at least 30 inches off the floor or ground. The top edge of a guardrail should rise at least 42 inches from the front edge of adjacent aisles, seating or footboards. Areas where a wall stands less than 4 inches away from such an edge do not require guardrails.

Preventing Misuse

• Some spectators create their own hazards by trying to climb guardrails. Designers can discourage spectators from climbing or otherwise misusing guardrails by using vertical bars or solid materials as fill-ins between rails or by limiting the space between horizontal fill-ins to 1-3/4 inches or less. The lack of open space between these bars or fill-ins gives spectators no way to gain a foothold onto the guardrail.

Modifications

• The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission proposes retrofitting older bleachers with new guardrails that make use of closely spaced vertical bars or chain link mesh. The extra weight imposed by these railings on the overall structure could call for other modifications or anchoring techniques to ensure the structural integrity of the bleachers. Improperly retrofitted bleachers can create new hazards by failing or even causing the bleachers to tip over.

Maintenance

• Bleachers can weaken or degrade over time from continuous use and abuse. Any structural weakness could have a negative effect on spectator safety, so a professional who is licensed and qualified to inspect bleachers should examine the bleachers at least every other year before certifying them fit for use. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, facilities might need to conduct these inspections every three months depending on how much use the bleachers receive.