American Institutes for Research (AIR) assisted the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to identify the human factors issues that should be addressed in a forthcoming voluntary safety standard for step stools. According to CPSC data, older people, children, and women of all ages are over-represented in step stool accidents. We studied the accident scenarios, recommended requirements for step stools, and evaluated the completeness of a draft of the standard with respect to user interaction.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American National Standards Institute.“American National Standard for Ladders - Portable - Safety Requirements.” ANSI A14.1, A14.2, and A14.5, 1982.
2.
American Society for Testing and Materials.“Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification for Step Stools (Fourth Draft).” ASTM. August, 1988.
3.
FelkerG.Felker, G. and others.Guidelines for Document Designers, Washington, D.C: American Institutes for Research, 1981.
4.
National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS).Statistics collected on step stool-related accidents, 1987.
