Do you make any of these mistakes when working on a roof? Imagine you're re-roofing on a late autumn day. The wind is blowing so cold that the chill goes straight to your bones, and of course it's supposed to drizzle a little too. A cup of coffee would be nice now. With your harness and support line, you trudge up to the roof and fasten yourself in to start work.
An important part of roof work that many people unfortunately forget about is the pendulum effect. But what is it and what does it mean? Imagine you've connected to the chimney in the centre of the roof and you start working. Eventually, you get to the far end of the roof and your support line is at an angle of over 30°. But now the wind starts to blow pretty hard. The wind is so strong that you lose your balance and fall.
The angle of the support line now means that you end up in a pendulum as you are stuck further away. Not only can the pendulum give you a big bang if you were to hit a wall, but your support line is also at risk of breaking as it slides towards the edge of the roof, which in turn can result in you falling to the ground.
What would you have done instead? To avoid pendulum falls, we recommend using double ropes attached diagonally from the opposite corner of the roof. If you can, you can also reduce the risk by moving the anchor point to a more central position.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to attach to just anything. An anchor point should be able to withstand 10-12 kN depending on the choice of equipment and standard. This is a large force, roughly equivalent to the weight of a giraffe. This means that ventilation pipes or ventilation hoods are not a suitable anchor point. Choose something large and stable, such as a chimney.
So anchoring yourself to a car or a tree is fine. But remember that if you're going to anchor yourself to a car, you need to have the key on you so that no one accidentally drives off with the car while you're stuck. If you don't have something stable enough, you can choose an anchor on the opposite side of the house.
According to the Swedish Work Environment Authority lone working on roofs is strictly prohibited. There is also a requirement to always have a rescue plan ready in case of an accident. If you fall from the roof and become suspended, the idea is that you can be rescued within 10 minutes to avoid life-threatening injuries. The blood supply to the brain is severely restricted by the harness, which can lead to oxygen deprivation, which in the long run (10 minutes) is harmful1.
You're not the only one who needs to be safe when working at heights. A screwdriver falling from a roof will hurt your head. If you drop a screwdriver from a height of 14 metres, it will reach a mass of about 73.5 kg, which is fatal. So it won't help if the person who gets it in the head is wearing a helmet. That's why it's super important that you secure your tools.
Although some tools cannot be secured with tool locks, such as a screw, it is important to take steps to prevent them from causing injury. One simple way is to cordon off the work area, so that dropped tools do not risk hitting someone in the head.
Sometimes it can be difficult to judge for yourself whether the environment is safe enough before starting work. That's why we offer professional fall protection inventory to ensure that your workplace fulfils all safety requirements. We will visit you on site, identify potential risks in your work environment and make recommendations on how to improve it.
HSE (Health & Safety Executive), Health and Safety Laboratory and the University of Birmingham, 2009 "Evidence-based review of the current guidance on first aid measures for suspension trauma" (RR708 Research report).
We know how to work safely on roofs and prevent shuttle falls and other workplace accidents. If you are not already authorised to work in a fall risk environment, you can take a education and training together with us in the largest fall protection training centre in Northern Europe. Contact us if you have any questions or need help for your next roofing project.
