Airport Fall Protection Equipment / Safety Railing Solutions / Roof Walkways / Roof Guardrails

Company Kee Safety Limited
Date 19.04.2011

The issue of roof top safety is never far from the news. Incidents occur on a regular basis, reminding us of the dangers of working at height and the necessity of putting the right safety solution in place. It is important to bear in mind that working at height is an obvious risk to employees, but also presents a risk to contractors and their customers who could face helfy fines for accidents which occur when safety rules are breached.
 
According to HSE, total fall from height incidents in the workplace result in around 40 fatalities each year. Provisional figures for 2008/09 showed that over 4,000 workers were injured as a result of falls from height. In the building industry, there were around 2,100 falls reported – 21 of them fatal and more than 1,200 causing major injuries. 
 
The HSE continues to highlight the key issues and the steps that can be taken in reducing both the incidents and the cost of injuries through the latest phase of its `Shattered lives` campaign. As the most successful initiative to date, the campaign has prompted more than 800,000 people to visit the website for further information. As part of this campaign, the HSE now offers a solutions database, a short cut guidance tool which offres advice on working at height, a special online safety tool )STEP) and a work at height access equipment toolkit (WAIT). Of course, under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, as amended by the Work at Height (Amendment) Regulations 2007, there is a legal requirement for anyone who contracts others to access and maintain rooftop equipment to ensure proper safety precautions are in place.  
 
It is clear that HSE campaign is having an effect. On many construction sites we visit you can see health and safety legislation tightening its grip and contractors taking their responsibilities very seriously. That said, when safety is the issue there is always room for improvement.
 
Take a look at some recent highlighted incidents. A construction firm and building owner were fined after a contractor suffered fractured vertebrae when he fell seven metres from a factory roof in Hertfordshire, putting him out of work since the end of 2008. The construction company was fined £10,000 with £7,076 in costs, while the owner was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £5,195 in costs. 
 
This type of incident is a wake-up call for anyone involved in rooftop work. If working at height is unavoidable, safety representatives should urge their employer to have procedures in place to prevent such falls. All safety professionals who contract others to access and maintain rooftop equipment are legally responsible for ensuring proper safety precautions are in place.  
 
Collective safety systems
 
To minimize the risk of danger, the HSE recommends choosing safety guardrailing afforded by collective roof edge protection systems. The latest modular roof edge protection systems offer easy assembly as standard, featuring three principal pre-fabricated components for fast installation. Fully modular and versatile enough to adapt to most roof edge profiles and level changes, sections can easily be taken dawn and re-erected as necessary. Because the system is free-standing, there is no risk of roof membrane penetration during installation. With a suitable roof edge protection system in place around gaps or sky/dome lights, employers can protect workers from injury and themselves from expensive litigation and fines.
 
Having collective roof edge protection in place is one thing, making sure that it is correctly designed, installed, and therefore effective, is quite another. HSE inspectors are likely to question if the system actually complies with safety requirements as defined by a raft of legislation. These include HSG-33 Health & Safety in Roof Work, HSG INDG 284 "Working on Roofs", BS 6399: Part 2 1995 Wind Code as well as EN ISO 14122 Part 3 and EN 13374 Class A. Under this legislation the system in use will have to meet specific criteria.
 
Personal protection equipment
 
There may be times when access to the roof is only infrequently required, and the resulting cost can be seen as prohibitive for a full edge protection installation. In this instance, mobile man anchor systems are commonly used. Working on pitched roofs can proof a dangerous business for contractors. Class 2 fall arrest anchor solutions provide fixed anchor points which offer a safe and cost-effective alternative to using scaffolding. Whilst the safety of the equipment in use is an obvious priority, safety professionals should also look at the versatility and ease of use as key factors in selecting the right type of product for the job.
 
Another type of fall arrest anchor solution worthy of consideration is one purpose-designed for installation of the ridge of a pitched roof. This approach ensures the safest anchorage point above the position of the contractor whilst providing access to both sides of the roof from the one anchor point.
 
Wire and Walkway systems
 
The latest innovations on the market include wire and walkway systems. Horizontal lifeline wire systems are designed as a flexible, cost-effective and continuous fall protection solution. Acting as a wire based personal protection system for roof installation or horizontal/overhead applications on structures, these wire-based solutions offer total fall protection through continuous attachment whilst travelling the system. Comprising stainless steel wire, electro-polished brackets, detachable travellers and powder coated anchors, the system can be set up to create spans of up to 15m for simultaneous use by up to three users. This type of system can be installed on most modern roofs or where fixing to the main roof structure is required.
 
Walkway systems are designed for use on composite, trapezoidal metal profiles and standing seam roofs. This type of modular system can be easily adapted on-site to a wide range of different roof types, pitches and configurations.
 
Supplied in 1.5m and 3m pre-assembled module sections, the lightweight modules are constructed from glass reinforced nylon treads attached to aluminium support beams that are fixed to the roof surface. Steps and a traverse option, complete with an adjustable hinge, enable an installation to be adapted to flat, barrel and sloping roof configuration of 0 – 35 degrees. The contractor can easily set the angle of the steps, by removing the hinge locating bolt, adjusting the angle and replacing the bolt at the desired point on the hinge. 
 
Specifying this type of wire-system or modular, off-the-shelf walkway system presents contractors with a versatile, cost-effective and practical approach to working safely on roofs. It will help ensure that they and their clients comply fully with the requirements of the Work at Height Regulations which has to be good news for all concerned.

Contact

Kee Safety Limited
Cradley Business Park
Overend Road
Cradley Heath
United Kingdom
B64 7DW
  • +44 (0 )1384 632 398