Reach distance and safety standards

The reach of British males of 99th percentile stature over different height barriers was determined to establish reach distances for a proposed Comité Europeen de Normalisation (CEN) standard. The distances recorded are considerably in excess of those given in the draft West German standard DIN 31001 1984, and those given in the recently published British standard code of practice for safety of machinery BS.5304. Data are included from earlier experiments which show that the safety distances would also be inadequate for the 95th percentile stature British male. It is suggested that reasons for the discrepancies arise mainly from the differences in the way that the reach measurements were obtained.