Roof Safety Gear

i13

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My father and I want to have a harness and tether system to keep us safe on the corrugated iron roof. We go up there for lights, the air conditioner and cleaning gutters. There seem to be a lot of options available so I figured it would be worth asking if anyone has any suggestions on which is best.

We are currently looking at a B-SAFE roofers kit of some sort such as this one. For anchor points we are considering the FrogLink and TempLink but are unsure if these are the best.

Any suggestions would be fantastic!
 

hamish

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Jan 1, 2014
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hi I know this is a little late but I thought you might still be interested. been a roofer I can say having a harness system is very smart especially for people un experienced on roofs or a roof with a steep pitch or a slippery roof. the harness system you have selected would be fine to be ohnest tho there is no safe method of fixing anchor points to the roof these are suppose to be done by a engineer how ever this is costly. you need to under stand the structure of a roof to relise that anchoring to a sheet of corry is not safe this sheet is attatched to a batton attatched to a rafter I would suggest finding areas where a rated anchor plate can be bolted thru the sheet thru the batton and thru a rafter this might need carpentry work and weather proofing to do properly another thing to consider is where these are placed and how many in no circumstance should a nursery reel be used these are for over head operation only. tile roofs become much simpler with the ability t
o secure around a rafter by sliding tiles and using a truck strap of suitable rating. again tho if the building is not sound there is water damage or pesty white ants that you don't know about then the anchor point may not stand up to the tolerance required. by all means this can be done by the average handy man but if un certain maby have anchor points professionally installed
 

mborg10

Michael Borg
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Can you get temporary anchor points for steep pitch tile roofs for fall protection. I'll be hoping on a roof of an old house and I'm not keen on removing tiles in case one breaks. Can you get a dead weight anchor that can be used. This is only temporary and will only be used for an hour or so. I'm not sure if my insurance will cover it if I don't have a harness and I fall.
 

AussieDoug

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Thing to remember is that any anchor point (fall protection) you install needs to be good for 1.8kn for a single person & 2.1kn for 2 people.
The Roof Spyda is a very good bit of gear for a tin roof. Little bit expensive, but highly recommended.
http://tinyurl.com/k2vj2e2

Short of that you could tie off to your car on the opposite side of the house, remove the battery, remove the spark plug leads & take the keys up with you when climbing around. Don't want to get dragged down to the corner store when mum needs to buy some milk
 

mborg10

Michael Borg
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This is on an old house built in 1914 with a tile roof. I don't have access to the house with a car but I could tie it off to a tree in the yard. Didn't think of that. I guess the dead weight just has to be in the opposite side of where you could fall.
 

damo1271

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And the most important thing is that the tether cable must be less than the distance to the ground!

I recall hearing of one death where someone was wearing a harness and fell from the roof. The trouble was the tether was too long and he hit the ground.
 

scamper

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Christmas @ the Myrtle (Michael) said:
Just measured and the cable would have to be 30m prob too long for my liking. Looking at other alternatives

had a mate do some work at the power station recently.
he had to get on top of a sea contained at 2m off the ground, It was a 6m long container that he needed to get to all edges. there were 4 tether points, all in the corners, and he was forced to wear a safety harness.
Even though he tried to get them to do the math and see how stupid the idea was.
Like he said, the trip hazard of wearing the thing was mare dangerous than the fall, but thems the breaks.
 

mborg10

Michael Borg
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Reading the work cover website and it doesn't quote a specific height where fall restraint needs to be used but a proper risk assessment has to be carried out and compared to their risk model, but then again it was a confusing read. Installing Christmas lights isnt a common practice that comes up against work over legislation. More planning I think
 

Benslights

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1.8m but work cover is for a work site not a private Christmas light display unless you are paying people to put them up then work cover is involved
 

David_AVD

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Doing a WMS for putting lights up on your own house? :eek:

I just grab the ladder, get up there and walk all over the tile roof at my place. Obviously not when the roof is wet or it's blowing a gale. :)

As for Workcover, that would be up to the business providing the workers. Remember also that Workcover (in QLD anyway) doesn't cover the business owner, only employees.
 

damona

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"Remember also that Workcover (in QLD anyway) doesn't cover the business owner, only employees." What the ?
That's a bit of a problem for a sole trader.
 

David_AVD

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damona said:
"Remember also that Workcover (in QLD anyway) doesn't cover the business owner, only employees." What the ?
That's a bit of a problem for a sole trader.

Yep, sole traders (just like any business owner) need to get their own personal insurance if the want it.
 

AussieDoug

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New rule for work at heights is,
If you are working anywhere there is a potential to fall. There is no longer a set height.
Need to cover there butts & protect the people who fall off milk crates.
 
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