Background

A patron was reportedly exiting the women’s restroom of a fast food restaurant. Reportedly, the door closed on her hand. The woman claimed that the door closed too fast.

Services Provided

Rimkus was retained to inspect and test the women’s restroom door for any defects or deficiencies that may have caused or contributed to the reported incident. During the investigation, our team inspected, photographed, and tested the bathroom door measuring the opening force and the time required for the door to close. Rimkus experts also reviewed the Accessibility Code for Building Construction. Based on our analysis, we concluded:

• The women restroom door’s closing speed was less than the minimum requirement of 3.0 seconds as listed in the Accessibility Code for Building Construction. This was determined to be a code deficiency.
• The women restroom door’s opening force exceeded the maximum requirement of 5.0 pounds as listed in the Accessibility Code for Building Construction. This was also determined to be a code deficiency.