Fall Assessments

Be Safe Working on Roofs

Everyone is responsible for preventing falls when working on a roof. The building owner/property manager, the self-employed contractor, any subcontractor and the worker are each responsible for safety considerations.

Health and safety on the roof starts when the decision is made to access the roof or work begins near the roof edge. All aspects of working safely at a height should be considered. The general rule is: A fall protection system is required when there is a fall hazard of more than 3 metres and where the roof parapet edge is less than 36 inches tall.

Preventing falls from heights is a priority for the Ministry of Labour (MOL). The MOL expects employers and contractors with staff working at a height to actively manage any significant hazard.

Control the Hazard 

Doing nothing to address safety is not an option. In order to stay safe when working at a height, you need to ensure effective controls are in place to prevent people being harmed.

To select the most effective controls, you must consider the following steps:

• Eliminate the chances of a fall by doing as much of the preparation work as possible before work begins. Normally this is done by doing a fall hazard roof assessment. The assessment report will review all aspects of safe access and egress for all work activities that may take place on the roof. The intent is to isolate the worker from the risk of a fall by using guard rails, scaffolds and roof edge protection as means of prevention. In some situations a combination of controls will be required to ensure safe work.
• Edge protection is imperative. Edge protection should be used as a means of isolating workers from a fall. This includes guard rails, horizontal life lines, localized tieback and lifeline anchors, access ladders and catwalks. Edge protection should be provided on all the exposed edges of a roof, including the perimeter of buildings, skylights or other fragile roof materials and for any openings in the roof. This also applies to openings and edges of floor areas.
• Where there is the risk of workers falling through openings in a roof, the openings should be identified and guarded. 

Check List for Working Safely on a Roof

• Are workers trained or supervised to work on a roof, near the roof edge or over the edge using suspended equipment safely?
• Has a full hazard assessment been completed before work starts?
• Is there safe access to all roof areas?
• Has the contractor provided a work plan to safely access the building edge or facade?
• Have the roof and fall arrest system been inspected, reviewed and tested if needed?
• Have all the access restrictions been identified and understood by the contractors?
• Are workers protected from falling off roof edges and do they have a rescue plan?
• Are workers protected from falling from incomplete roofs?
• Are workers protected from falling through skylights and penetrations or other brittle roofing?
• Are people below the work protected from the dangers of falling materials?
• Do roof workers have appropriate footwear to prevent them from slipping?
• Are the weather conditions suitable for working on a roof?
• Have lower electrical hazards and vehicle traffic hazards been identified?  

Other Possible Considerations

• Eliminate the hazard of a fall from a roof.
• Work from the ground.
• Work from inside where there is no possibility of a fall.
• Prefabricate components at ground level or prior to installation.
• Remove complete fixtures to ground level or shop for maintenance (e.g. air conditioning units).
• Pre-paint fixtures/roof prior to installation.
• When isolating the hazard of a fall from a roof you can consider some addition temporary protections.
• Scaffolding and mobile scaffolds/step platforms/working in an elevating work platform.

Temporary Edge Protection

Perimeter counter weighted guard railing physical barriers can be used; at least 2 metres from a fall hazard or to prevent access to a hazard. Safety nets on top of purlins may also be an option for temporary edge protection.

It’s the law – doing nothing is not an option!

Compliance with the legal requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act is the responsibility of anyone associated with working at a height in a place of work. The law recognizes that the building owner/property manager has the necessary means to control, eliminate, isolate and minimize fall hazards. 

Preventing falls from heights starts with a professional fall assessment of your roof top. 

For more information call 1-800-461-0575 (www.pro-bel.ca).

Rigging Sleeve

Pro-Bel was recently faced with the problem of installing a rigging sleeve on an existing building where we had no access to the ceiling below the roof.

The interior atrium of the building could not be cleaned (or maintained) because there was no lift/platform that would reach the height required (and there was no other access point to install any other equipment).  The biggest problem though was that there was no access inside the ceiling and between the drywall and the roof there was a ten foot gap (which again complicated things even more).

 

What we did was add a large twelve foot extension bit to a drill and then (once we opened up the roof beside an I-beam) lowered the extended drill ten feet and drilled through the drywall below (to create a circular hole). 

 

Once that was completed we installed the pier of the rigging sleeve by wrapping its base plate around the I-beam and then offsetting the pier.

 

Once the pier was installed we lowered a cable through it and the drywall hole and eventually all of the way to the ground floor.  Once the cable was hung from the roof to the ground we were able to thread the cable through a PVC tube insert.  The insert had a cap on the bottom which would give it a nice looking finish with the ceiling.  We had to find a way to attach the cable to the insert prior to lifting it to the ceiling though so we secured an anchor to the end of the cable.

 

We then began to hoist the insert (along with the cap and anchor) up to the ceiling.

 

The insert eventually entered the pier and then screws were inserted into the side of each to secure it into place.

 

The rigging sleeve was then finished (like any other rigging sleeve) with a cap on top of the pier and the roofing around it was patched to a watertight condition.

 

 

This is the first time that we have ever completed an installation under these circumstances and it was an enormous success.  There really is a solution to every problem!