Don’t Trip Up when Working at Height
A fall from height remains the most common cause (26%) of fatalities in the work place here in the UK, with many of these falls resulting from a trip or slip. Today we’re going to take a look at what can be done to avoid trips and slips when working at height. Whether you’re a business premises owner, manager or roof contractor, preventing falls at work is an essential element when it comes to protecting your employees, your business and your reputation.
This means that if you own a business premises which requires people to work at height or if you’re a contractor specialising in roof management, you have an obligation to protect your workers when operating at any height. You need to ensure employee safety by providing suitable personal protection equipment and/or ensure that the building being worked on features collective protection such as rooftop demarcation barrier systems.
When considering roof safety systems to install, it’s not just a matter of making sure you have a safety rail or guideline in place. Workers accessing the roof will often need to navigate different roof levels, roof types and avoid or climb over any obstacles or hazards in order to get to the plant which requires maintenance. This means that there are likely to be trip hazards on many parts of the roof, not just near the edge.
Skylights and Fragile Roof Areas
Skylight and other fragile roof areas are one of the most common hazards for rooftop maintenance engineers and must be avoided where possible. Make this easier by installing a rooftop demarcation barrier system around these areas to prevent access when working on the roof. A rooftop demarcation barrier system will not only prevent workers from reaching parts of the roof where there are skylights or where the roof itself is too fragile to ensure safety, it will also increase visibility of the hazards, working two-fold to increase roof safety and prevent accidents.
Many roofing materials (especially in the case of older roofs) deteriorate over time, becoming more fragile with the passing of the years. Combining a rooftop demarcation barrier system with a roof walker system will offer a cost-effective method of providing a safe access route to areas of the roof where maintenance and repair work needs to be carried out. Roofing work and carrying out maintenance work on plant on roofs is a dangerous business which means that all possible precautions need to be taken in order to comply with current health and safety legislation here in the UK. If you can demonstrate that risks have been minimised with the provision of robust collective and personal protective equipment, then should an accident occur, you are far more likely to be able to protect both your reputation and your business finances.
If you’re looking to improve the safety of the rooftop of your business premises, then don’t delay, get in touch with us here at D-marc and let our team of experts advise you on how best to do so.