Sunday, November 08, 2015

Public Service Announcement #29

Approximately 1,600 people die annually from falling down the stairs, according to data from the Center for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics in the U.S.A.


[via]

Unless you are the Prime Minister of Canada and enjoy falling down stairs as a party trick...



... then please exercise caution when using the stairs.

Here are some tips for staircase safety:
  • Never run up or down stairs.
  • Use the handrail!!!
  • Never text or check your phone while using stairs.
  • Attempting to take selfies on staircases can be fatal.
  • Stairs should be well lit and clear of clutter.
  • Only take one step at a time.
  • Get help if you have to carry something up or down stairs.
  • If the steps are located outside, be extremely careful if it is raining or snowing.
  • And finally, if you live in Montréal and your stairs look like this...

  • ... don't even think about leaving the house.  
    This has been an Infomaniac Public Service Announcement.

32 comments:

  1. Thank you MJ for addressing stair safety issues. No more sliding down the stairs on a tin baking tray for me anymore.

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    Replies
    1. MITZI: We use baking trays in Canada as impromptu toboggans.

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  2. Did we struggle a bit with the equilibrium ?

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  3. Replies
    1. JON: Now THAT’S a well-lit stairway!

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    2. Just one of the clips I omitted from the long-forgotten "Top Ten Campest Movie Moments" challenge. I should really try and do another one :-) Jx

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    3. JON: I remember that fabulous post of yours and encourage you to pursue even MORE of the campiest moments.

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    4. It is a daily vocation, my dear, as anyone who follows either or both my blogs may know...

      I will consider a new "compendium of campness" soon, no doubt. Jx

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    5. JON: Let us know when you do.

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  4. wow I didn't know that our PM is a "cascadeur"! It will be helpfull in his functions, I'm sure.

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  5. He is an actor too. Google Trudeau Talbot Papineau .

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    Replies
    1. RAINETTE: Justin Trudeau is “un homme aux multiples talents”…

      “Cascadeur”, actor, teacher, boxer, ski instructor, bouncer, author, public speaker, and now Prime Minister.

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  6. PM Trudeau should count himself lucky that he didn't fall down M C Escher's stairs - he'd never reach the bottom!

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  7. Replies
    1. LX: Remember how Chevy Chase did a great impersonation of President Ford on SNL?

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  8. my staircase is simply cluttered with close pins,
    i don't know how i manage it!

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    Replies
    1. NORMA: I imagine you’re tripping over Corgis too.

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. omewhere in the end of the XIXth century, the city of Montreal passed a law forcing house builders and contractors to leave a "green space" between the buildings and the street thus reducing the amount of living space for the houses.

    So, they decided to put the stairs outside so to give more space for larger rooms and also, an outside staircase doesn't need to be heated in winter.
    But these "green space" were so small that they couldn't always put a strait staircase like this, thus those very unsafe curved ones we mostly see. I lived in many of those houses.

    Behind the Papineau subway station, there is a sculpture that reflects this particular architectural feature of residential buildings

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    1. HUGGY JON: Interesting account of the architectural reasons for “les escaliers en colimaçon.”

      My friend has a staircase at his house in Montréal that is a true spiral. Not quite as much of a spiral as that sculpture behind the Papineau metro station though! After a few drinks, his staircase is very dangerous, especially in winter, but so far there have been no accidents.

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  11. That's why i insist on a downstairs laundry...

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    Replies
    1. PRINNY: You’re not fooling us.

      We know the houseboys are kept downstairs.

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  12. I used to have a ladder from my bedroom to my bathroom. Who needs stairs?!
    Sx

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  13. Is that Mr Beastie trying to look alluring with his peg accessories?
    Sx

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    Replies
    1. The socks say "Yes !"

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    2. It's too cold to hang him outside I guess.

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    3. Regarding Mr. Beastie… the socks say “yes” but the absence of a purple Lurex posing pouch says no.

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  14. I would add the dangers of clothes pins attached to body parts. You never know when they may attack!

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    Replies
    1. CANADIAN GIRL: It seems the safety of clothespins is ripe for discussion.

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