Safety with Roof Work & Fragile Surfaces

Company fined as worker falls through roof and fractures back

A company in Manchester has been fined £20,000 after an employee fell through a roof and suffered serious injuries.

The 24-year-old, employed by Hightech Roofing N/W Limited, was repairing a roof on a building in Blackburn when they fell approximately 4.8 metres through a roof light on 3 August 2022. The employee suffered a broken foot and ankle as well as a fractured vertebrae.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Hightech Roofing N/W Limited failed to ensure the work on the roof was properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner that was as safe as reasonably practicable. While on the roof, operatives used orientated strand boards as crawl boards to move around the roof. The boards were placed where employees needed to step, but did not cover the roof lights, which led to the worker falling.

The company also failed to assess the specific risks arising from the need to work on or over fragile surfaces and failed to consider risks arising from employees working in proximity to the edge of the roof. No edge protection had been installed at the gable end of the building.

HSE guidance states those carrying out roof work must be trained, competent and instructed in use of the precautions required. A ‘method statement’ is the common way to help manage work on roofs and communicate the precautions to those involved.

Hightech Roofing N/W Limited, of Grimshaw Street, Failsworth, Manchester, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £5,858.46 in costs at Preston Magistrates’ Court on 9 May 2024.

HSE inspector Sam Eves said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices.

“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”

 

Roof Work

 

What you need to do

The law says you must organise and plan all roof work so it is carried out safely.

All work on roofs is highly dangerous, even if a job only takes a few minutes. Proper precautions are needed to control the risk.

Those carrying out the work must be trained, competent and instructed in use of the precautions required. A ‘method statement’ is the common way to help manage work on roofs and communicate the precautions to those involved.

On business premises contractors should work closely with the client and agree arrangements for managing the work.

Key issues are:

• Safe access to roofs(local link)
• Roof edges and openings(local link)
• Fragile surfaces

 

What you need to know

Everyone involved in managing or carrying out work on roofs should be aware of the following facts:

• High risk: almost one in five deaths in construction work involve roof work. Some are specialist roofers, but many are just repairing and cleaning roofs.
• Main causes: the main causes of death and injury are falling from roof edges or openings, through fragile roofs and through fragile rooflights.
• Equipment and people: many accidents could be avoided if the most suitable equipment was used and those doing the work were given adequate information, instruction, training and supervision.

 

Safe access

Safe access to a roof requires careful planning, particularly where work progresses along the roof.

Typical methods to access roofs are:

• General access scaffolds.
• Stair towers.
• Fixed or mobile scaffold towers.
• Mobile access equipment.
• Ladders
• Roof access hatches

 

Roof edges and openings

Falls from roof edges occur on both commercial and domestic projects and on new build and refurbishment jobs. Manydeaths occur each year involving smaller builders working on the roof of domestic dwellings.

• • Sloping roofs: sloping roofs require scaffolding to prevent people or materials falling from the edge. You must also fit edge protection to the eaves of any roof and on terraced properties to the rear as well as the front. Where work is of short duration (tasks measured in minutes), properly secured ladders to access the roof and proper roof ladders may be used.
  • Flat roofs: falls from flat roof edges can be prevented by simple edge protection arrangements – a secure double guardrail and toeboard around the edge.

Fragile Surfaces

Always follow a safe system of work using a platform beneath the roof where possible. Work on or near fragile roof surfaces requires a combination of stagings, guard rails, fall restraint, fall arrest and safety nets slung beneath and close to the roof.

• Fragile roofs: all roofs should be treated as fragile until a competent person has confirmed they are not. Do not trust any sheeted roof, whatever the material, to bear a the weight of a person. This includes the roof ridge and purlins.
• Fragile rooflights are a particular hazard. Some are difficult to see in certain light conditions and others may be hidden by paint. You must provide protection in these areas, either by using barriers or covers that are secured and labelled with a warning.

What you need to do

The law says that contractors and employers must manage the danger by avoiding work on or near fragile surfaces and controlling any remaining risk by use of stagings, guard rails, and fall arrest systems.

Those at risk must be told what the necessary safety precautions are and people carrying out the work have to be trained and instructed in the precautions required.

On business premises contractors should work closely with the client and agree arrangements for managing the work.

What you need to know

Falls through fragile surfaces, particularly fibre-cement roofs and rooflights, account for 22% of all fall from height fatal injuries in the construction industry.

Workers undertaking roof work and building maintenance can die or be permanently disabled when they fall through fragile surfaces.

Those carrying out small, short-term maintenance and cleaning jobs are over-represented in the injury statistics.

Everyone involved in this type of work, including clients, designers and contractors, should treat falls through fragile surfaces as a priority hazard.

 

Fragile surfaces

Fragile surfaces and materials will not safely support the weight of a person and any materials they may be carrying.

All roofs, once fixed, should be treated as fragile until a competent person has confirmed that they are non-fragile. In particular, the following are likely to be fragile:

• Fibre-cement sheets – non-reinforced sheets irrespective of profile type.
• Rooflights – particularly those in the roof plane that can be difficult to see in certain light conditions or when hidden by paint.
• Liner panels – on built-up sheeted roofs.
• Metal sheets – where corroded.
• Glass – including wired glass.
• Chipboard – or similar material where rotted.
• Others – including wood wool slabs, slates and tiles.

 

Precautions

Effective precautions are required for all work on or near fragile surfaces, no matter how short the duration, whether the work concerns construction, maintenance, repair, cleaning or demolition.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg33.htm is FREE to download and provides full details of the dangers presented by fragile surfaces and the precautions available. This guidance should be consulted by all involved in such work

The hierarchy of steps to be taken to deal with the danger is:

• Avoidance: Plan and organise work to keep people away from fragile surfaces so far as possible, eg by working from below the surface on a mobile elevating work platform or other suitable platform.
• Control: Work on or near fragile surfaces requires a combination of stagings, guard rails, fall restraint, fall arrest and safety nets slung beneath and close to the roof.
• Communication: Warning notices must be fixed on the approach to any fragile surface. Those carrying out the work must be trained, competent and instructed in use of the precautions required.
• Co-operation: On business premises, contractors should work closely with the client and agree arrangements for managing the work.

 

Assessing all work at height

What you need to do

The law requires that employers and self-employed contractors assess the risk from work at height and go on to organise and plan the work so it is carried out safely.

Try avoiding work at height, if you can. You must otherwise prevent or arrest a fall and injury if work at height is necessary.

Instruct and train your workforce in the precautions needed. Method statements are widely used in the construction industry to help manage the work and communicate what is required to all those involved.

Key issues for all work at height are:

• Risk assessment.
• Precautions required.
• Method statements.

Work at height is the biggest single cause of fatal and serious injury in the construction industry, particularly on smaller projects.

Over 60% of deaths during work at height involve falls:

• From ladders, scaffolds, working platforms and roof edges.
• Through fragile roofs or rooflights.

 

Risk assessment

Employers and self-employed contractors must:

• Assess the risks.
• Decide on the precautions required.
• Record the significant findings.
• Review the assessment as necessary.

Do not overcomplicate the process. For many firms your work at height risks will be well known and the necessary control measures easy to apply.

 

Precautions required

The law on work at height requires that you take account of your risk assessment in organising and planning work and identifying the precautions required. Your objective is to make sure work at height is properly planned, supervised and carried out in a safe manner.

The approach you can adopt for work at height is to follow the work at height hierarchy of controls:  The hierarchy must be followed systematically and only when one level is not reasonably practicable may the next level be considered.

It is not acceptable to select work equipment from lower down the hierarchy e.g. personal fall arrest, such as harnesses and lanyards in the first instance.

Before working at height, you must work through these simple steps:

The hierarchy of control measures with practical examples

• Avoid working at height unless it is essential e.g. erect guard rails on steelwork at ground level and then crane the steel and the guard rails into position; provide cast in mesh across riser ducts at the position of services; fix nets using extending poles.
• Prevent falls by using an existing safe place of work that does not require the use or addition of work equipment to prevent a fall e.g. a flat roof with permanent edge protection.
• Prevent falls by using work equipment that protects all those at risk e.g. access equipment fitted with guard rails, such as independent scaffolds, tower scaffolds, mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) and mast climbing work platforms (MCWPs).
• Prevent falls by using work equipment that protects the individual e.g. a harness with a short lanyard which makes it impossible for a person to get to a fall position (this is called work restraint).
• Mitigate falls by using work equipment to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall and protect all those at risk e.g. nets or soft-landing systems positioned close under the work surface.
• Mitigate falls by using work equipment to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall and protect the individual e.g. a personal fall arrest system with the anchorage point sited above the head, or a rope access system.
• Mitigate falls by using work equipment that minimises the consequences of a fall e.g. nets rigged at a lower level, or inflatable injury protection.
• Mitigate falls through training, instruction or other means e.g. ensure ladders are inspected regularly and are used by competent people, demarcate areas to provide a warning, provide adequate lighting, apply sensible housekeeping measures, provide suitable footwear etc.

 

Method statements

A method statement is a useful way of recording the hazards involved in specific work at height tasks and communicating the risk and precautions required to all those involved in the work. The statement need be no longer than necessary to achieve these objectives effectively.

The method statement should be clear and illustrated by simple sketches where necessary. Avoid ambiguities or generalisations, which could lead to confusion. Statements are for the benefit of those carrying out the work and their immediate supervisors and should not be overcomplicated.

Equipment needed for safe working should be clearly identified and available before work starts. Workers should know what to do if the work method needs to be changed.