Safer on the roof

[Gerry1964]

Provisions that should be in place to ensure safety and avoid potential risks in maintaining on-roof equipment plants.

Keeping staff safe at work is essential, for their own wellbeing and a business’ reputation. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), an estimated 142 people were killed at work between 2014 and 2015. There were 78,000 non-fatal injuries and among the most frequent causes of injury were slips, trips and falls from height. In 2013/14 (the latest period for which figures are available), falls from height were the most common cause of fatalities, accounting for nearly three in 10 deaths to workers.

Safe working at height

The management of work at height involves applying a simple hierarchy which has been summed up as follows:

Eliminate: don’t do the job at height if you can do it on the ground
Prevent: is there a safe place of work from which the task can be carried out?
Reduce distance and consequences: the distance that a person can fall can be reduced with safety nets or fall arrest systems. For both, prevention and reduction, consider collective measures such as guard rails before individual measures such as personal fall restraints
Reduce time spent at height: for example, co-ordination of maintenance needs can combine several small jobs into one large job
Training and instruction: ensure that nobody engages in any activity in relation to work at height or work equipment for use in such work unless he or she is competent to do so.

With roof-top plant maintenance it’s unlikely that you’ll have the opportunity to implement the first step in this hierarchy because the job needs to be done, however, the second step is achievable. Access is crucial to mitigating the risks of working at height and there are various solutions on offer to help with this.

Here’s an overview of common access equipment and its purpose:

Stairs

Preferably between 30o and 38o, but often up to 45o. BS EN ISO 14122-1:2001+A1:2010 provides a useful table to assist with the choice of a fixed means of access between two levels, according to incline, frequency and number of users, duty, etc.

Ladders

Fixed access – permanently fixed to wall, building, or other structure, with rungs and a pitch (incline) of between 75o and 90o. Taller rises – usually over three metres – must be fitted with a safety cage made up of hoops to protect the user from falls, or alternatively with fall arrest equipment.

The latest British Standard requires the installation of a self-closing gate at the top of the ladder for additional safety. Rises of over six metres are fitted with intermediate platforms to enable the user to rest between each flight.

Companionway Ladder – more frequently referred to as a Ship’s Stair, with treads rather than rungs and handrails, is a steeper design of stair for occasional use in rises of less than two metres and where a conventionally inclined stair cannot be installed.

Access gantry

A catch-all term referring to a raised or suspended walkway with guard-railings that enable safe crossing between two or more points, usually over obstructions such as pipework or ductwork.

Stepover

Describes a means of crossing a pipe, duct or other services without having to clamber over, having steps each end onto a short central platform, and (ideally) handrails both sides.

Edge-protection

A generic term for guard-railings or other physical barriers to prevent falls, typically over an unprotected roof or balcony edge.

Open mesh flooring (OMF)

This is the ubiquitous galvanised steel floor grating used in the majority of plant areas, both outdoors and inside the building. Alternatively, this can be made of strong, lightweight GRP which is easy to install and cut around services and fire-resistant with a built-in gritted non-slip surface.

Safe and legal access equipment

Any access equipment made from steel and aluminium must comply with standard EN 1090. Buyers of structural steel and aluminium products are responsible for ensuring that what they purchase is procured only from an accredited company.
EN 1090 comes in three parts:

EN 1090-1: Requirements for conformity assessment for structural components (CE-Marking)
EN 1090-2: Technical requirements for the execution of steel structures
EN 1090-3: Technical requirements for the execution of aluminium structures.

If you’re responsible for ensuring the safety of maintenance staff who work at height, review working practices to check they’re as safe as they can be and make sure any equipment can be accessed appropriately. Finally, it’s essential that the manufacturer you choose to supply metal access work complies with the latest standards; failure to do so could leave your company open to fines, while further compromising safety