Compression test of a wood step stool

Standards promulgated by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for wood step stools require that these stools meet the same rather stingent wood quality requirements that much larger household step ladders must meet. Tests were performed on a step stool whose rear legs clearly violated the standards of wood quality defined by ANSI. This step stool passed the full battery of ANSI Design Verification Tests and supported a compression load of 2,860 pounds (2.73 kN), more than three and one-half times the required proof load and more than 14 times the duty rating. These results suggest the possibility that ANSI should relax somewhat the requirements for wood in step stools.

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