Safety systems on a roof are necessary, and indeed mandatory, to ensure the safety of operators who have to access it to perform work at height, whether for maintenance, inspection, or installation of various devices or machines. This also includes safety in solar installations, where access to roofs with photovoltaic panels requires specific collective and personal protection measures.
In this week’s post we will break down which safety systems you can find on a roof and what each of them protects.
Safety Guardrails
We begin with the safety system par excellence: safety guardrails. This solution provides collective protection and, as Law 31/1995 on Occupational Health and Safety rightly states, measures that give priority to collective protection over personal protection must be adopted. It is also one of the most effective types of perimeter security.
For this reason, safety guardrails are the first option to install on a roof to ensure operators’ safety and protect against the risk of falling to a lower level.
These safety systems can be broken down into several types:
- Counterweighted guardrail
- Sheet-mounted guardrail
- Wall-mounted guardrail
- Floor-mounted guardrail
Besides protecting the perimeter of the roof, safety guardrails can also be installed around roof windows to prevent the risk of falling into the interior of the industrial building or building.
All of them serve the same function, and depending on each customer’s needs and the roof, one type or another will be chosen for installation.
At Ypsos Safety we have all of these versions, and you can contact us and we will send you all the information you need.
Safety Mesh
Safety mesh is an important element in fall protection on roofs with roof windows or skylights.
These meshes are designed to prevent accidents by stopping people or objects from falling through the openings of the translucent panels.
At Ypsos Safety we have two safety systems for protecting fragile roofs.
- Welded single-twist mesh
- Pignus Panel, safety mesh designed to protect skylights in sandwich panel roofs.
- Pignus Skylight Fix, safety mesh designed to protect roof windows from the inside.
- Metal trays to protect roof windows
On roofs with translucent panels, it is not enough to install perimeter protection guardrails; these fragile elements must also be protected with the safety systems mentioned above.
Lifelines
Installing a lifeline on a roof should be considered in situations where there is a significant risk of falls from height and where other safety systems, such as guardrails, are not enough to protect workers or cannot be installed due to the conditions of the roof.
Lifelines are safety systems that protect the user in the event of a fall by arresting it. It is increasingly common to find these devices on roofs because, once anchored to the lifeline, the operator can move in complete safety across the entire roof without risk of falling into the void.
On a roof you can find two types of lifelines:
- Flexible horizontal lifelines, made of a steel cable and permanently fixed to the roof.
- Temporary textile lifelines, made of textile material and installed temporarily to carry out the work at height.
Crossovers
Crossovers are safety systems installed to enable passage on a roof where there are obstacles.
For example, it is very common to find ventilation ducts that block normal movement on the roof, so crossovers are perfect for safely getting over these elements.
At Ypsos Safety we offer the product Oryg as a solution to this type of problem on roofs.
The safety systems mentioned are those intended to protect users from the risk of falling when performing work at height on a roof. There are other systems, such as fire protection, lighting, or safety signage.
At Ypsos Safety, we manufacture each and every one of the safety systems discussed, in all their versions, as well as special custom fabrications. If you want to know more, contact us.