A height safety or fall protection system can tick all the boxes for compliance. But does it actually protect people?
Far too often, height safety is left out of the design process of a new building. This is especially the case for new industrial buildings. It is slotted in once construction has started and the overall budget for the build has been committed to.
In a lot of cases the end result is a system that can meet the requirements of being “compliant” but does not actually perform a useful function of protecting people.
Fall protection gets parked
It is certainly not universal, but it happens far too often.
“We’re not looking at roof safety just yet,” is the common line from builders. Construction has already started. The location of plant is known. The amount of solar going on the roof is known. The need for future access is definitely known. It is exactly the right time to be looking at how workers are going to be safely accessing the area to undertake the maintenance work everyone knows is coming.
But “we’re not looking at that yet.”
There are a handful of reasons this can be the case. Constructing even a simple warehouse building involves myriad moving parts. There are umpteen services to get installed, hundreds of different things that need signing off on. The contract generally only requires a certificate of compliance for the height safety system. There’s no detail attached as to what that system actually does, just that a certificate exists that says it is compliant. The detail can wait.
Of course, what happens next is that particular chicken comes home to roost. The building project is running behind schedule, the remaining budget is tightening, the pressure to get everything finished is on. At this point, the height safety is nothing more than a box that needs to be ticked so the project can close out and everyone can move on.
Acknowledging the tensions
It would be fair to ask why, after all these years, things have not improved on this front. The simple answer comes down to a basic tension that exists between a building’s construction and its ongoing use. That is, the builder does not really have to worry about what happens once their work is done.
When the drive is to simply hit a number and get a certificate, what tends to happen is that the height safety system ends up being barely worth the name.
Yes, there may be a way to safely access the roof and transfer on to it. But that can be about it. Areas that need accessing, like gutters, cannot be done safely. Risk areas on the roof itself, like skylight panels, are not identified or mitigated.
The system is technically compliant to the letter of the standard. There is nothing inherently wrong or unsafe about what has been installed. But when it comes to the reality of protecting the people who need to work at height, the system is simply not sufficient.
Bringing height safety in earlier
Involving a fall protection specialist, like Height Safety Engineers, earlier in the process can assist in making roofs safer, sooner.
From the outset, our design team assists in making sure the fall protection system takes into account existing and yet-to-be-installed service locations but still delivers safe and compliant access to where it is needed by workers. Our team regularly works with HVAC, solar and other service providers to ensure that workers can safely and easily access the roof areas they need to once everything is in place and the building is ready for handover.
Once a building reaches handover and starts being used the relationship with its height safety system becomes even more important. As the system is used for access to plant, for cleaning and other needs, keeping it compliant is paramount. Having the correct system for the work being undertaken installed from the start makes keeping it compliant easier.
A system that is well-maintained is also easier to adapt as changes to the building and to the roof occur over time. As new plant is installed, old plant decommissioned, more solar panels installed, the access needs will change, and the fall protection system should adapt. By keeping an ongoing relationship with a specialist like HSE, that understands your roof, your access needs and the specific risks associated with the site, implementing changes to the height safety system is kept easy and frictionless.
Partners in protecting people
Height Safety Engineers has been in the business of protecting people for over 20 years. Our team designs and installs compliant, practical, easy-to-use fall protection systems for all types of industrial and commercial buildings. Get a fully scoped, easy to use, complaint height safety system installed and protect people against the risk of falls.
Don’t think about height safety later. Start protecting people now. Call us on 1300 884 978, send an email to enquiries@heightsafety.net, or click here to drop us a line.
