Error in Stair Measurements

A new measurement method achieves more accurate results of stair slope compared with the traditional method BY DANIEL JOHNSON n the mid-1970s, a survey by the National Bureau of Standards reported that in a single year in the United States, 3,800 people died and more than 500,000 sustained severe injuries because of falls on stairs (Archea, Collins, & Stahl, 1979). In 1990, nearly 1 million people in the United States required hos-pital room treatment for falls on stairs and steps (Nation~l Safety Council, 1990). Although data on deaths from staIr falls were not collected and summarized, they most likely also increased. After someone falls on a stairway, a forensic ergonomis