We had a new catwalk put in recently for accessing chemical blending tanks. Part of the work involved a new staircase for access to the top level. Except the stairs are a bit.....wonky. Hard to describe but it feels like they’re way unevenly spaced and the weld locations are weird.
I’m not a contractor or a welder or engineer but do these look right to anyone else? Here’s a front-ish view to give you a brief idea.
Here’s a side view of the profile the steps are taking. It’s weird to me that they added those extra plates and then had the steps follow them. And it’s hard to see, but the main beam is very thick iron/steel but that piece underneath with the angle to it is a seperate piece, tack welded on and is also much thinner. Notice how the ends of each step seem to match up with it, so the steps have a weird curve to them as you walk up it.
Then finally, we have a massive gap up to the top with the last few steps. It doesn’t seem to meet OSHA standards and that might be a problem but again, I don’t know...
Then finally we have a shot at how the first couple steps were mounted and they seem the most secure (ironically, the first step’s weld broke the first time one of us stood on it and had to be fixed)
I don’t know if I’m crazy or not, but it’s really uncomfortable and feels weirdly unsafe to use but I don’t know how to pursue getting them redone. It’ll be a few more weeks at least (these guys were SLOOOOOOOWWWWW). But at the same time I can’t have myself or any of the crew walking up there with 20-50lbs of raw material and risk tripping. I might have another shop make the stairs and send the first one the bill or something.
Any suggestions? Does this look right to anyone?