Anchorpoint Safety Systems Ltd are pleased to be authorised installers of the Soter Horizontal Safety Line System; designed to appeal to all parties who come into contact with Horizontal Life Lines, from designers right through to the end user.
As part of this authorisation Anchorpoint Safety Systems Ltd have attended the RIBA approved presentation thereby ensuring that we are able to better assess and understand the relevant criteria and system requirements, along with the overall suitability of an arrest or restraint system design.
This CPD has been produced with Architects and Designers in mind. It features:
- An understanding of the current HSE & CDM regulations
- What to specify and why
- Hierarchy of safety design considerations
- How and why many systems fail to meet these regulations
- Importance of calculations
- Warranties
Minimising the risk when working at height.
Avoid work at height wherever possible…
…is well known HSE guidance, however where this is not possible, we are all responsible for minimising the risks. When roof access cannot be avoided ALL current guidance dictates that a ‘work restraint system’ is the best option and this is where the Soter Horizontal Safety Line System comes in.
Restraint or Arrest – What’s the Difference?
Work Restraint System: No possibility of a fall.
A typical restraint system would have a lifeline running around the perimeter of the building, 2.3m back from any potential fall.
This would allow for gutter cleaning and maintenance (the most common reason roof access is required).
This type of system requires the minimum of PPE training.
Testing and Calculating
The Soter range has been tested to BS EN795 & The Advisory Committee for Roof Works latest publication the ‘Magenta’ guide to testing.
Results from all of these tests have been independently accredited to produce a comprehensive calculations program. It is simple to use and can determine optimum post spacing to meet the end load performance that varies so much with differing roof types. Some of the substrates tested include Aluminium standing seam, composite panels (with topskins down to 0.4mm), double skin and twin skin 0.7mm along with metal, timber and concrete decks.
Design
Merely asking for a safety line, abdicates design responsibility. In order to establish the requirement of a bespoke Horizontal Life Line, the need to access the roof must be clearly understood e.g.
- Gutter cleaning and maintenance
- Access to air conditioning units
- Roof-light cleaning
- Plant and machinery
- Solar or Photovoltaic panel maintenance
- Green Roof maintenance
Whatever the design factors are taken into consideration, the first option should always be to design the system to restrain. Before design can start we must fully understand the needs of the system.
The following factors should be typically considered:
- Roof material
- Access point
- Building height
- Roof lights
- Number of users
Typically Anchorpoint Safety Systems Ltd will take the following into account:
- What is the intended use of the system?
- Arrest or restraint?
- What’s the roof substrate and can it take the loads?
- Has it been calculated?
- What’s the building height?
- How will the system be accessed?
- Rooflights – when should lights be considered ‘fragile’?
