Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963

16 Floors, passages and stairs

(1) All floors, stairs, steps, passages and gangways comprised in premises to which this Act applies shall be of sound construction and properly maintained and shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be kept free from obstruction and from any substance likely to cause persons to slip.

(2) For every staircase comprised in such premises as aforesaid, a substantial hand-rail or hand-hold shall be provided and maintained, which, if the staircase has an open side, shall be on that side; and in the case of a staircase having two open sides or of a staircase which, owing to the nature of its construction or the condition of the surface of the steps or other special circumstances, is specially liable to cause accidents, such a hand-rail or hand-hold shall be provided and maintained on both sides.

(3) Any open side of a staircase to which the last foregoing subsection applies, shall also be guarded by the provision and maintenance of efficient means of preventing any person from accidentally falling through the space between the hand-rail or hand-hold and the steps of the staircase.

(4) All openings in floors comprised in premises to which this Act applies shall be securely fenced, except in so far as the nature of the work renders such fencing impracticable.

(5) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to any such part of any fuel storage premises as is in the open, but in relation to any such part the following provisions shall have effect, namely.—

(a) the surface of the ground shall be kept in good repair;

(b) all steps and platforms shall be of sound construction and properly maintained ;

(c) all openings in platforms shall be securely fenced, except in so far as the nature of the work renders such fencing impracticable.