This article looks at the question: Where is edge protection required? We look at what you need to know about guardrails and edge protection if you have a job working at heights.
What is Edge Protection
Suppose you are looking to find a Working at Height solution for your workplace. In that case, HSE (Health and Safety Executive) recommend that rooftops have Edge Protection added in order to provide safety.
When it comes to rooftops, this added safety usually comes in the form of having handrails and guardrails installed. These are designed in order to stop staff and workers from falling over the edge of a height and, therefore, to stop death and injury.
Not every building is capable of having these kinds of safety measures installed, but you will find they are the single most cost-effective and safe edge protection solution available.
What You Need to Know about Guardrails and Edge Protection
Are you responsible for a place of work or a public building? If you are, then it is your responsibility to make sure that all of your employees, contractors, and members of the public are completely safe while on site.
Wherever there is a location where somebody could possibly fall from a dangerous height on the property, then it is your responsibility to ensure that sufficient edge protection has been implemented.
Edge protection is most commonly needed on rooftops, balconies, stairs, and ramps. They can also be needed in locations where the ground has sunken inwards, causing a potential hazard.
Whether the location is used daily, occasionally, or extremely rarely, the same level of precaution should always be applied to ensure that risks are reduced.
Temporary or Permanent Protection
No matter what the specifics of the situation may be, you must always have height safety solutions in place in order to ensure that both objects and people cannot fall from an edge.
It is recommended that thorough risk assessments take place regularly in order to guide your choices.
If you require a permanent solution for a property, then The Building Regulations Part K 2013 specify that both guardrails and edge protection measures must be installed.
This statutory guidance requires guardrails to always be made up of two horizontal rails that must conform with the current safety standards.
In some situations, only temporary access and protection are needed. For example, if roofing construction work is being done on a property.
The roof will need to be made safe while work is taking place, but after that point, the roof will no longer be accessible. The rules for this scenario come from the Working at Height Regulations 2005.
These regulations state that all the collective safety systems involved with construction, including edge protection, should be given absolute priority over any personal protective systems wherever this is possible.
Another specification found in the regulations describes that the main guardrail being used should always be at least 950mm over the edge with sufficient transitional guardrails.
In some situations, a roof parapet can be used in order to provide the same level of protection. But if the parapet does not, then the guardrail will be necessary.
Building Regulations part K
To comply with section K2 of the Building Regulations, which addresses protection from falling, all “stairs, ramps, floors, balconies, and any roof accessible to people” must have some form of protective guardrails.
In this context, the edge protection must consist of at least two horizontal rails and have a minimum height of 1100mm.
BS EN 13374 TEMPORARY EDGE PROTECTION SYSTEMS
This ruling states that edge protection systems should be selected primarily based on the gradient of the platform surface they are being installed on for protection.
Legally, these systems are required to withstand loads from horizontal, vertical, and perpendicular angles.
The standard is tested based on three classes:
- CLASS A: 0-10° roof pitch
- CLASS B: 10-30° roof pitch
- CLASS C: 30-45° roof pitch, and up to 60° for 5m slopes
All the above classes have a static load requirement, while classes B and C also include dynamic load tests. This additional testing simulates a person rolling down the slope and impacting the rail.
BS EN ISO 14122-3 Safety of Machinery
Due to the considerable confusion surrounding roof edge protection, some businesses have conducted independent assessments. In these cases, contractors might apply standards such as EN 14122-3 Safety of Machinery.
While this can be beneficial for providing consistent load distribution and deflection criteria, this standard is designed for guardrails around plants and machinery.
As a result, it does not address factors such as wet and dry conditions, roof pitch, roof membrane, toe board requirements, and other relevant issues. Therefore, this standard is not entirely suitable for testing edge protection on roofs.
What are the Edge Protection requirements?
Health and Safety Executive have specified certain requirements for roof edge protection within their guides for working on roofs.
HSE states that roof edge protection should at least include or be equivalent to a key guardrail positioned at a minimum of 950mm above the edge, as well as a toe board guard in locations where there is a chance of objects being accidentally or purposely kicked from the platform and a number of intermediate rails positioned around, so there is no gap which is larger than 470mm.
Outside of this particular set of rules, you will find there are huge numbers of other standards and regulations which involve roof fall protection and guardrail systems.
This can lead to major confusion and, in some cases, safety hazards. When it comes to edge protection, there is no standard or multipurpose solution. This is due to the specifics of different sets of rules changing from document to document.
This means you essentially need to consider each scenario individually. Take into account all the potential risks, as well as the construction of the roof.
Both cantilevered and free-standing guardrails can be used as either temporary or permanent solutions, but there are no specific regulations relating to these pieces of protective guarding.
The following documents should always be scrutinised when an edge protection system is being constructed or set up.
If you are working on a construction project in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Kent or London, you will be considering the safety requirements of your workers.
Follow the links below for construction site safety nets, crash bags hire and edge protection hire.
Edge Protection Hire London