![PP Construction Safety logo and link to home page [1]](http://www.ppconstructionsafety.com/wp-content/themes/ppcs960/images/ppcslogo.jpg)
SAFER ROOFLIGHT REPLACEMENT
Risk during rooflight replacement reduced by working from below
Falls through fragile roofs and rooflights often occur during the replacement of rooflights. Avoiding the hazard of falling through fragile surfaces can be achieved by undertaking the work from below.
Letchworth Roofing Ltd working with Filon Ltd have developed a fixing system that allows sheet installation from below using just standard tools and a cherry picker.
The Fixsafe kits are available with a range of sheet sizes and profiles, as direct replacements for all popular asbestos and fibre cement sheeting. See short video
Comment
No work at height is 100% risk free and removing one risk may sometimes create another. There are now hardly any deaths during steel erection and roofing operations on new build “sheds” due to increased use of MEWPs and safety nets. However, the number of MEWP related incidents has risen. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Replacing rooflights from below may come with other risks. However, this approach could make a major contribution towards preventing the 7-10 fatal falls through fragile roofs and rooflights that occur each year. If work is carried out beneath a roof the hazard of falling through the roof has been eliminated!
Latest Construction Health and Safety News
HSE ENFORCEMENT DATABASE UPDATE 17th APRIL 2019
Latest online register of prosecutions and enforcement notices
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 17th April 2019TWO BRICKLAYERS INJURED IN FLOOR COLLAPSE
Joist hangers incorrectly installed and floor overloaded with blocks
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 16th April 2019FIRM FINED £150K AFTER BOY FELL FROM SCAFFOLD
Ladder guard failed to prevent 12-year old accessing scaffolding
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 16th April 2019SAFETYCAM VEHICLE TRAPS ERRANT DRIVERS
Safer Highways reports on new approaches to roadworks health and safety
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 16th April 2019NEW PRE-QUAL SYSTEM LAUNCHED BY MAJOR PLAYERS
Build UK and CECA publish common PQ assessment standard
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 16th April 2019REPORT CONFIRMS RISING COST OF OFFENDING
Considerable increases in fines imposed on larger organisations
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 16th April 2019CONCRETE BLOCK MAKER FAILED TO GUARD MACHINE
Effective safety precautions absent for a number of years
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 9th April 2019HOTEL REFURBISHMENT DISTURBED ASBESTOS
Firm failed to act on well-founded asbestos concerns expressed by employee
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 1st April 2019CABLE HIT CAUSED BY LACK OF PLANS AND DETECTION
Excavation for sign erection struck live electrical cable
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 1st April 2019HSE AND THE ‘SECRETS’ OF RISK ASSESSMENT
Regulator advice on successful risk assessment comes at a price
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 1st April 2019WORKMAN FELL INTO CAR PARK VENTILATION SHAFT
Protective grill unsecured and gave way under movement of workman
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 1st April 2019BUILDER GIVEN PRISON TERM OVER WORK AT HEIGHT
Unsafe working platforms and lack of silica dust control punished severely
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 1st April 2019HSE WARNING ON SAFE DEMO AND REFURBISHMENT
TV programme prompts stability guidance for demo & refurb project teams
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 1st April 2019VIBRATION RISK UNCONTROLLED FOR TEN YEARS
Company workers used sanders and air-fed cutting equipment
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 26th March 2019BUILDING OCCUPIER FINED £1.8M OVER ROOF FALL
Two workmen fell 4m through rooflight during leak investigation
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 26th March 2019CONSTRUCTION SITE DEATHS SET TO FALL?
HSE in-year fatality records for 2018/19 suggest significant reduction
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 22nd March 2019BRICKLAYER FATALLY INJURED BY FALLING WALL
Masonry collapsed during concrete back filling operation
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 18th March 2019BASIC LADDER SAFETY FAILURES FINED £150,000
Repair and maintenance firm had no excuse for errors causing injury
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 18th March 2019HSE ISSUES REMINDER ON SAFE SCAFFOLD DESIGN
Recent incidents and high winds prompt warning from regulator
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 12th March 2019LORRY DRIVER DIED IN OVERHEAD POWER STRIKE
Major company failed to communicate precautions to grab arm operator
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 12th March 2019ASSESSMENT SHOWED RISK – PRECAUTIONS NOT TAKEN
Workman seriously injured when falling into open unguarded stairwell
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 1st March 2019MAJOR FIRM FAILED TO IMPLEMENT SAFE SYSTEM
Procedures for safe plant refuelling failed to prevent death of workman
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 26th February 2019CLIENT PROSECUTED OVER CONTRACTOR FATAL FALL
Company breached duty to protect contractors as well as employees
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 26th February 2019FOURTEEN YEAR FAILURE TO MANAGE ASBESTOS
Firm failed to implement asbestos management plan following survey
Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 25th February 2019CHILD INJURED BY WALL COLLAPSE INCIDENT
Council failed to carry out “intelligence led” condition inspections
Posted on 18th February 2019
December 11th, 2009 at 8:38 am
[…] by work on or near fragile roofs and rooflights is well know and safe systems must be in place. Replacing rooflights from below is increasingly seen as the most cost effective […]
June 20th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
[…] and serious injuries arising from work on or near fragile roofs and rooflights. In many cases working from beneath the roof is practicable and a safer way to carry out such work using mobile elevating platforms as the […]
March 13th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
[…] (Southampton) Ltd failed to recognise that the project could not be completed from below the roof and therefore the equipment was not sufficient to ensure […]
July 15th, 2012 at 10:55 am
[…] a common cause of fatalities in the workplace. Maintenance to industrial roofs should ideally be carried out from below using a safe working platform. If access onto a fragile roof surface is unavoidable, then adequate […]
August 17th, 2012 at 11:37 am
[…] from below – work from underneath the roof using a suitable work […]
August 29th, 2012 at 11:28 am
[…] guidance will advocate access from a tower scaffold or mobile elevating work platform from underneath the roof and will be targeted at commercial clients (such as those managing industrial estates) as well […]
December 17th, 2013 at 3:15 pm
[…] company eventually got it right by working from inside the building and avoiding the need to physically go onto the roof, but it is sad that it took a serious incident before this […]
March 25th, 2014 at 2:31 pm
[…] The proposed guidance will probably encourage the adoption of work practices which involved working from below fragile surfaces. […]
April 15th, 2014 at 9:04 pm
[…] Replacing rooflights from below the roof […]