On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 06:42:56 -0400, "3G" wrote:


wrote in message
oups.com...
| Hi,
|
| Does anyone know if there are OSHA requirements for the minimum
| clearance between a starway railing and the wall it is attached to?
| There are no local requirements in my area, and the only OSHA
| requirement I can find refers to a 3" clearance for a temporary stair
| railing. I need to install a railing in a fairly narrow stairway, and
| I would really like to make the clearance narrower if I can get away
| with it.


Handrails adjacent to a wall shall have a space of not less than 1½
inches (38 mm) between the wall and the handrail.

Sometimes there is no space at all, or not enough to get my fingers
in, and I hate that.

Stairway handrails shall have a circular cross section with an outside
diameter of at least 1¼ inches and not greater than two inches.

"Circular" seems to exclude a lot of pretty bannisters. Isn't a
bannister a kind of handrail? Even a lot of handrails don't have
circular cross sections. Does some code not permit them to be
installed anymore?