WS modular guardrail – top-mounted

What it is

The WS modular guardrail is World Steel’s standard edge protection for platforms and walkways, mezzanines, machine decks and roof plant areas. Base-plated stanchions are bolted to the supporting steel or slab, and galvanized tube rails are joined to them with fabricated fittings that are locked by set screws – so the whole run is assembled with spanners and Allen keys instead of a welding set.

Because every part is standard, the same components build straight runs, corners, tee junctions and short returns, and the guardrail can be extended, re-arranged or partly removed later without hot work. Compared with a welded industrial guardrail the system costs a little more in material but much less in site labour, galvanizing repair and programme risk.

Types and options

The system is offered in three standard configurations; anything in between is assembled from the same stanchions and connectors.

Design and compliance

Rail heights follow the governing code: under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.29(b) the top rail sits 42 in ± 3 in above the walking surface and resists 200 lbf; AS 1657-2018 sets 900–1100 mm with a mid-rail and a toe board of at least 100 mm where required; EN ISO 14122-3 requires at least 1100 mm, a knee-rail, gaps of no more than 500 mm and a 100 mm toe-plate. The fittings are positioned on the stanchion to suit the chosen code.

Stanchion spacing is the structural variable. It follows from the barrier load (AS/NZS 1170.1, EN 1991-1-1 or ASCE 7), the stanchion section and its fixing; World Steel checks the spacing for the project or works to the engineer’s design. See design loads for background.

Installation and selection

• Set out and bolt the stanchions, line and level them, then slide the rails into the fittings and tighten the set screws.
• Fit toe boards with their brackets; add end caps or returns at open ends.
• Leave a splice at expansion joints of the supporting structure.
• Specify code, mounting, number of rails, toe board, finish and the locations of gates and removable bays.

Fabrication and finishing at World Steel

Every WS modular handrail component is made in the World Steel plant in Vietnam: tube and bar are cut on saws to the component schedule, stanchions are welded to base plates, brackets or socket spigots on jigs so that rail heights repeat exactly, and fittings are fabricated from heavy-wall tube and plate, drilled and tapped for their locking screws. Welding follows qualified procedures under ISO 3834-2 and the AS/NZS 5131 and EN 1090-2 systems our certifications cover.

Components are then hot-dip galvanized as single pieces – which is only possible because the system is modular – giving full internal and external zinc coverage with no site welds to repair afterwards. A safety-yellow or architectural topcoat can follow. Parts are marked with their WS code, bagged by type and packed by area for export shipping, together with the structural steel or on their own.