While current standards make staircase balustrades more safe for children, these standards may not apply to older balustrades. If you're about to move home and you have young children, it may be worth running some basic safety checks on your new house's balustrade to make sure that it won't cause any injuries or accidents. What do you need to look out for?

Balustrade Strength

The first thing you should do when checking a balustrade is to make sure that it is secure and holds together as it should. For example, if any of the railings or posts in a balustrade are wobbly or loose, then the balustrade may be dangerously close to falling apart. If a child manages to push out a loose rail or falls against one hard enough to dislodge it, then they could fall through the bigger gap it leaves.

Balustrade Type

Many kids love to climb and some balustrades make this easier than others. For example, a kid has to be pretty agile and determined to climb up a balustrade with vertical rails; any kid can use horizontal rails as steps to climb up a balustrade. If your child gets to the top of a balustrade, they could fall over it pretty easily.

Balustrade Gaps

Even if your balustrade has vertical rails, the gaps between the rails can be an issue. Today's standards dictate that you typically shouldn't be able to fit a 125 mm sphere through a gap for safety reasons. Larger gaps can cause problems – younger kids can get their heads or limbs caught between rails if the gap is big enough.

Balustrade Safety Tips

If you're worried that the balustrade in your new home is not safe for your kids, then the first thing you should do, at least as an interim measure, is to fix child safety gates at the top and bottom of your stairs. If there are areas that aren't protected by the gates, then you need to make sure that your kids can't play in these areas when they are unattended.

If your balustrade is a bit wobbly or doesn't meet current safety standards, then you should also think about fixing the balustrade or even replacing it. For example, if you have a balustrade with horizontal rails or vertical rails with large gaps between them, then it may be worth filling in the gaps or covering the balustrade's rails to prevent access until your kids get older. If you're worried that this may not be a good enough solution, then you may want to look at having a new balustrade installed that complies with current safety standards.

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