Roof Edge Protection for Working at Height

July 04 2017 0comment

Roof Edge Protection for Working at Height

Posted by admin In

With so many flat roofs on industrial and commercial buildings here in the UK, duty holders have legal obligations to their employees, contractors and the public.  As you will be aware if you are a property owner, health and safety or facilities manager, or anyone else in control of the work on roofs, it is your responsibility to make sure appropriate safety measures are put in place to enable work at height be carried out safely.  If your property is one where regular access to the roof is a necessity, collective fall protection systems such as roof edge demarcation barriers should be installed. 

Today we’re going to take a look at the legal requirements for permanent and temporary roof edge protection in the UK and Europe.  There are several standards relating to both temporary and permanent edge protection around the world and in the UK and Europe, the standards include:

  • Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1992
  • BS 6180 Protective Barriers in and About Buildings 1999
  • The Building Regulations Park K 2013
  • HSE Specialist Inspectors Report NO 15 1987
  • BS 6399 part 1 Loading for Building 1996
  • BS 6399 Part 2 code of Practice for Wind Loading 1997
  • Construction Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1996
  • HSE Health and Safety in Roofwork 2012
  • EN 13374 Temporary Edge Protection Systems
  • EN 14122-3 Safety of machinery. Permanent means of access to machinery, stairways, stepladders and guardrails 2010
  • The Work at Height Regulations 2005

All of these standards often lead to confusion when trying to specify a guardrail or roof barrier product because many require different load and testing criteria.  Moreover, there are no specific standards that deal with cantilevered guardrails which are used as both temporary and permanent solutions which leads to even further confusion.

Our D-marc Roof Barrier System has been designed to create a highly visible, physical barrier between a safe zone and a hazardous area and is suitable for use at ground level as well as on rooftops.   It’s suitable for use between areas of safety and hazards (such as a roof edge where there is risk of a fall from height) and should be installed at least 2 metres from the hazard.  This is a cost effective solution for building owners/managers as HSE INDG284 states that full edge protection “may not be necessary if limited work on a larger roof involves nobody going any closer than 2m to an open edge”. 

Our demarcations system is comprised of 3 parts – base, post and chain and the posts should be spaced 3 metres apart.  Our solution has been wind tunnel tested on several roof surfaces (including single ply, bituminous and concrete surfaces) and can resist winds in excess of 105 mph.  The system is easily installed, requiring no specific training though workers installing the system to need to ensure that they follow the practices laid down by the Work at Height (Amendment) Regulations 2007.  For more information on this effective, yet affordable solution, why not get in touch now and speak with one of our experts?

© Copyright 2024 D-Marc. All rights reserved | Website hosted and maintained by Sheffield based marketing agency Objective Creative
Conditions of Use - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy
Demarcation Apparatus Patent