Bleacher Safety Presented by Bruce Saari, Keenan

Bleachers can pose a number of hazards:  Guardrails may be missing from the backs or open sides of the bleachers.  Openings between components in the seats and guardrails may be big enough to permit a child or a person to fall through.  There may be missing or inadequate bleacher components such as seating planks or footboards.  Bleachers may collapse if they are not installed or operated properly. This danger is particularly evidenced with telescopic/folding bleachers, portable/movable bleachers and temporary bleachers. Bleacher Safety

Prevention of fall from Bleachers:  Many bleachers pose a significant fall hazard for children because they were built and installed where building codes did not require guardrails and allowed openings large enough for children to fall through them.  Even now, many building codes do not require specific guidelines for bleachers and, in the rare jurisdiction that does have standards for bleachers, most codes do not have retroactive provisions for existing structures.  In the fall of 1999, CPSC, held a Roundtable on Bleachers and Grandstands. After the Roundtable, CPSC suggested the following guidelines to reduce the number of falls from bleachers Bleacher Safety

To Prevent Falls:  Children should not be able to pass under or through the components of a guardrail;  Guardrails should be designed so that they do not encourage young children to climb on them.  To prevent falls through bleacher components (such as the footboard, seatboard and riser) that are above the ground: the openings should prevent passage of a four-inch sphere. This recommendation is based on anthropometric data showing that 95% of children four months and older would be prevented from completely passing through a four-inch opening.  Bleachers should be updated, inspected, maintained and certified as fit for use. Bleacher Safety

Possible Safety Devices:  End Closures-Stop people from going under the bleachers  Aisle Closures-Will cover the aisle from top to bottom, eliminating the “ladder” for kids to climb.  Top Deck Covers-Starts at the wall and slopes forward over the top exposed deck,. this can help prevent fall accidents from a set of closed bleachers. Bleacher Safety

 In January 2004, a 6-year-old boy slipped through a large gap in the bleachers at a hockey arena in Hutchinson, Minn., and fell to his death.  A few weeks later, a 2-year-old girl suffered a concussion and broken arm when she fell from bleachers at Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minn.; and a 5-year-old boy in St. Paul, Minn., fractured his skull after falling from bleachers at an ice rink.  On January 5, 2008, three high school girls and a custodian were injured after the bleachers collapsed in Uniontown, PA. The girls were trying to roll up the bleachers when the bleacher collapsed into the wall. Apparently, somehow a mechanism that wasn’t properly pulled or suspected that it was on a bind, and the bleachers fell over and trapped one of the girls under the bleachers. The one girl suffered a broken leg and a broken nose. The custodian also suffered serious injuries. Case Studies Bleacher Safety

 Federal guidelines and proposals, (House Resolution 836) would direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to develop federal safety regulations for "the production, erection and retrofitting of bleacher and grandstand facilities to reduce the risk of children falling between guardrails and gaps in the seats.  At the time the bleacher safety guidelines were published, the CPSC was aware of 10 deaths that involved falls from bleachers from 1980 through Of these deaths, four involved children under 15. Two deaths occurred in In one case, a 6 year-old fell from the bleachers through a 13-inch opening between the footboard and seatboard. In the other incident, a 3 year-old fell through an opening in the guardrail.  From 1991 through 1999, estimated annual averages of 19,100 people were treated in the U.S. hospital emergency rooms for bleacher-related injuries. In 1999, there were an estimated 22,100 bleacher-related injuries. Approximately 6,100 of these injuries were the result of a person falling from, or through, bleachers on the surface below. Approximately 4,910 of these falls involved children under 15. Case Studies Bleacher Safety