On 1/16/2013 8:06 AM, The Daring Dufas wrote:
This comes up because of a tragic accident with some folks I know. The
elderly grandmother, 88 was at home with her granddaughter, the
granddaughter's three young children and the granddaughter's boyfriend.
The boyfriend had just spoken to grandma then went into the room with
his gal when they heard an awful sound. Grandma had fallen down the
basement stairs to the concrete floor below. The boyfriend ran down to
check on grandma but she was fatally injured. What happened was the
door to the basement stairs opened into the stairwell and the latch was
defective and failed to hold when grandma was walking down the hallway
holding onto the walls to steady herself. When she put her weight
against the door, it sprang open and she fell through it and down the
stairs. It seems to me that most basement doors I've seen open out and
not into the stairwell. I don't know if there is a home-building code
regarding this or not but anyone building a house should consider the
safety of a door which opens into a stairwell. O_o

TDD

That is terribly sad. I'm of the age (and experience as a nurse) that I
am paranoid about trip/fall hazards. We have such a stairway which we
both check more often than we check the exterior doors...it has a very
sturdy swiveling hook to latch the door...if left unlocked, it is not
hard to imagine someone just leaning against or bumping the door and
going down the stairs. When we get settled, I'm going to rig a ramp to
slide bags of salt and laundry baskets down )

Keep up to date on eye exams, keep lighting sufficient to see obstacles
(I have night lights all over the place).

Our front steps are redwood stained wood with no hand rail; rarely use
the front door, but would like to find something (other than paint-on
granules) to make the steps slip proof. Moved too late in the year to
take care of the steps, but want to make it safer for visitors.

My only serious fall has been the one time I tried out my son's
skateboard. Possible mild concussion? Worked that night as usual, so
was in hospital in case anything serious showed up )