Providing light for paths, aisles, and stairs to enhance safety
A Step in The Right Direction
Every year, thousands of people are injured in stairway falls due to poor visibility of the step edge. Flooding the area with light helps, but people also fall in bright daylight. Research shows that a high-contrast edge marker, positioned flush with the step, greatly enhances stair safety. By improving visibility and guiding foot placement, it reduces the risk of trips. It falls, helping property owners minimize liability and avoid costly lawsuits.
That’s exactly what StepGuard® with Light Tape® delivers: the world’s most advanced non-glare light source that marks hazards like a laser, not a spotlight. Doing everything possible to prevent falls when combined with our cutting-edge stair nosing designs.
How StepGuard Prevents Falls
High contrast, Maximum Safety – Studies show that maintaining at least
50% contrast at the stair edge increases heel clearance, improves gait, and
significantly reduces fall risk. Nothing performs—or looks—better in low
light than Light Tape®.
Illuminated Edge for Condent Steps – StepGuardTM delivers a precise,
illuminated line exactly where it’s needed—right on the step’s edge for
optimal foot placement. Positioned ush with the prole, it prevents
overstepping on the way down and understepping on the way up, allowing
users to move naturally and safely.
Direct-View Safe Lighting – Unlike harsh, glaring LEDs, StepGuard’s
electroluminescent Light Tape® is designed for direct viewing. With zero glare
and perfectly even illumination.
Why LEDs fall short and Light Tape® Leads the Way
Glare & Temporary Blindness – Direct-view LEDs can overwhelm the eyes,
causing momentary ash blindness and loss of step visibility—especially
dangerous in dark settings. This effect is even more pronounced for the
middle-aged and elderly, who are most at risk for falls.
Poor Foot Placement – Bright LED hotspots distract the eye and pull
attention away from the step edge. Instead of guiding foot placement,
they cause users to rely on peripheral vision, increasing the chance of
missteps.
The Light Tape® Advantage – With Light Tape®, you get a uniform,
non-glare line of light that’s safe for direct view, smooth from end to end,
and engineered to enhance visibility without distraction—a lighting
solution designed for human vision, not just illumination.
The Value of Light Tape® in Avoiding Slips, Trips, and Falls?
Effective fall prevention always includes properly lighting the space to enhance visibility and safety. This lighting must comply with a range of building codes, including ADA and OSHA standards. Light Tape not only meets these regulations but outperforms traditional LEDs in several ways. It helps prevent and mitigate falls by providing:
1. Enhanced visibility of step edges and walkways to significantly reduce trips and falls
2. Cool-to-the-touch, flicker-free illumination that minimizes distraction and is safe for all users
3. Long-lasting, energy-efficient performance with over 40,000 hours of operation, reducing maintenance interruptions that could lead to safety gaps
4. Seamless integration with lighting control systems and customizable dimming features to provide optimal lighting levels for safety without glare
5. Durable, commercial-grade construction engineered for impact resistance, vibration tolerance, and use in high-traffic areas
6. Easy installation on stair noses, egress paths, and other critical locations with flexible adhesive backing suitable for retrofit or new builds
7. Provides uniform, diffuse lighting that clearly marks hazards and pathways to enhance OSHA and ADA compliance
8. Supports emergency preparedness by clearly marking exits, steps, and emergency zones in line with ANSI and OSHA lighting standards
9. Low heat emission reduces fire risk and unsafe hot surfaces in sensitive or crowded environments
Fall Prevention FAQs
Yes! Light Tape can be retrofitted for stairs, walkways, in fact we have yet to find a situation where Light Tape can’t be retrofitted. Often we are coming to replace dangerous, outdated or aesthetically unpleasant LEDs lights and lighting systems.
Yes! We produce many different stair nosing and lighting systems. These systems can light both the nose of the stair as well as the space underneath. Our Stair nosing have built in safety treads that are designed to be durable and easily visible. Additionally these systems can also be easily retrofitted into an existing space.
Unlike LEDs, Light Tape is designed to be looked at. Avoid the stops, and glare that LEDs produce. LEDs, despite them being on many stairs, walkways, railings, etc, are not designed to be looked at. In some cases LEDs can even make the are more dangerous as the glare prevents people from seeing properly.
A fall risk assessment is a detailed evaluation that is meant to address the likelihood of someone falling in your area or space. There are many agencies like the CDC that provide these. It’s also good to ask those within the space where the biggest hazards are, often those in the space most frequently such as nurses in a nursing home or janitors in an auditorium know these locations well.
Yes, Light Tape is easy to install and we have installation instructions for many different installation types on our website.
