On Sunday in Germany I went to FC Koln, one of the new stadiums built for the world cup. Very smart, very modern, has Safe Standing areas for home and away fans and is generally rather impressive.

Anyhow, as the standing tickets were sold out we had seats in the upper tier, which was VERY steep and had a great view. As it's steep there are barriers (probably 60-70cm high) along each of the rows of seating. These didn't obscure the view at all. If you follow the link below you can see this on the first picture, right side.

http://www.groundhopping.de/koestp03.htm - top pic, right side

I thought to myself how sensible this was. The FLA tell us about the risks of standing in seated parts and the dangers of cascade effects and the like - even though their claims are a bit (!) dubious, people do often fall over seats and pick up injuries while celebrating goals. Even if everyone sits in their seats during the game the FLA accept both that people will stand at exciting times, and that this is when standing poses the greatest risk. If passive standing is so serious a problem that it can cause threats of stand/ground closures, by logic it is dubious whether any seated areas should obtain safety certificates.

Under the FC Koln system, the risks of falls are virtually eliminated. Although there was no persistent standing in seated areas at the game (amazing what giving people a choice does) the Germans recognise that people are going to stand at times - hence creating seating areas that are safe for people to stand in. Never mind Safe Standing, is Germany the home of Safe Seating too?

I'd be very interested to know why such systems aren't used here in the upper tiers of some of our grounds with steeper tiers. We sat in the Gods at Wembley and (especially when concerts are hosted there) if nothing else these barriers could act as some sort of bannister to haul you up the stairs! Seriously though, I think these could certainly improve safety at many of our grounds.

Perhaps worth asking the FLA if they're considering recommending that clubs install them?

Good point well made. Would definitely be an idea to inquire why this seating configuration has not been considered, when our safety inside grounds is so paramount to our chums at the FLA.

Its all too sensible for britain.

This is an requirement made by the building authority in Germany, applicable for all newly built and redeveloped venues (indoor and outdoors) which feature steep gradients.
In addition to Cologne, the upper tiers in e.g. Hannover, Munich, Hamburg, Lautern, Dortmund are built this way.

I've sent my letter twice to the Swindon person (see the letters thread) regarding our game at Swindon. I have yet to recieve a reply!

I think that the German way can be do in Italy too !

It's certainly a theme we should take up. Amanda, will discuss the subject at our next meeting.

Hirndobler, who are the 'building authority' in Germany? Is it the DFB or another organisation? I ask because it may be useful for us to be able to contact them and get more information - eg. how steep stands need to be before the barriers go in, the height of barriers etc.

Well legislation is up to the individual federal states in Germany to formulate the respective laws, here in Bavaria it's the ministry of the interior.
Here is the newest legislation for the state of Bavaria (pdf-File).

Can't be bothered to read the whole nonsense, but a quick scan shows §11(1) applies for our purposes.

The executive power is handed down to the local authorities (Urban Building Regulation department in Munich (in English)), which controls every aspect of the building progress, certifies the building and may subcontract other organisations for this task (e.g. fire department, TÜV) .