Raise the Rail, Inc.

Raise the Rail’s mission is to reduce and ultimately prevent suicide by height through evidence-based changes to the built environment. Guided by the public health principle of means safety—reducing access to highly lethal methods of suicide—the organization advocates for higher rails, barriers, window protections, and other architectural interventions proven to reduce suicides by jumping. Raise the Rail is focused on advancing building code reforms in New York City, where the rate of suicide by height is approximately ten times the national average.

Raise the Rail seeks to:

Build a community of suicide-loss survivors and other stakeholders.

Build a coalition of suicide prevention organizations.

Raise awareness among architects, developers, policymakers, regulators, and code officials.

Develop tools and frameworks for assessing and mitigating suicide-by-height risks in buildings, bridges, and other structures.

Amend building codes, including the International Building Code, to require safer guardrail and barrier standards.