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The long awaited report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center was presented as a final draft to the International Code Council's (ICC) Code Technology Committee (CTC) on October 5, 2007 in Reno, Nevada.
The report is titled Review of Fall Safety of Children Between the Ages of 18 Months and 4 Years in Relation to Guards and Climbing in the Built Environment. Funded by the National Ornamental and Miscellaneous Metals Association (NOMMA), the study was commissioned as a means of clarifying conflicting interpretations of guard climbing studies and injury data.
Over 40 peer-reviewed studies were examined for the report covering the areas of children's physical development and their interaction with the built environment. The review of the studies resulted in this set of conclusions:
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"The human child is built to climb and loves to do so!" (Readdick and Park, 1998).
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Climbing is involved in the child's physical, psychological and social development.
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Climbing skills are often taught and encouraged by parents, especially with boys.
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Climbing is a part of physical education at school.
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No evidence of a gender difference in either climbing skill or climbing speed in young children.
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Difficult barrier designs merely present a greater challenge to the determined child.
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Studies also generally agree that it is probably impossible and most likely undesirable to render any environment completely "safe" from children's climbing
The NAHB Research Center's review went on to analyze Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) data collected by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). Previous analysis of this data had been unscientific and inconclusive. Following a thorough, scientific analysis, the review of NEISS data resulted in the following conclusions:
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The results indicate that falls from Porches, Balconies, Open-Side Floors, Floor Openings Handrails, Railings, Banisters among young children aged 18 months to 4 years account for an estimated 0.032 percent of injuries in that population.
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The incident rate is approximately 2.5 per 100,000 children between 18 months and 4 years of age
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There is much uncertainty in the data to ascribe causality or the physical situation that lead to reported injuries.
In their discussion following the presentation, the CTC felt that the .032 percent rate of injury was too small -- especially when compared to other products -- to warrant the creation of code language. They voted unanimously to prepare a draft conclusion for submission to the ICC that will be finalized once the NAHB Research Center document completes the peer review process. If all goes as planned, the peer review should be completed in the next four months.
The CTC made a point of thanking NOMMA and its members for having kept their promise by providing a well-documented report that has answered their many questions regarding this long-standing controversy. |