View the Safesite entry on BPi
Companies have a duty under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure the health and safety of their own employees and anyone else, such as contractors, who may be carrying out this work on their behalf. This means that if you contract someone to work at height, you are legally bound to make sure that the person/company is competent and that the correct safety measures are in place before any work is carried out.
We recently helped Virgin Atlantic to ensure the safety of maintenance and inspection teams who needed to access the roof of ‘The Base,’ their global headquarters in Crawley, close to Gatwick Airport. The building provides a training and technical facility for cabin crews, pilots and engineers and includes an extensive flat PVC roof which is split over several levels. The building previously featured partially installed guardrails and failed demarcation systems which were deemed not fit-for-purpose. It therefore became necessary to have a roof top safety upgrade comprising a complete roof protection system that enables safe access to the entire roof.
Norland-based commercial property adviser, CBRE Group managed the project and contracted Safesite to specify and install a full guardrail scheme. After removing all existing guardrails, demarcation bases and chain, Safesite installed 900 Lm raked and standard KeeGuard® systems.
“Once we became aware that the previous systems weren’t performing correctly, we wanted to ensure that the new system was compliant with regulations, provided a full safety solution and wasn’t obtrusive to the design of the building” says Stephen Earl, Project Manager, CBRE (Norland). “Safesite is the expert in this area, and as they can offer the full service, from site surveys to installation, it was clear that they were the right choice for this project. The system that they have installed ticks all the boxes for us, and provides the client with the assurance that anyone accessing the roof will be safe.”
The KeeGuard® range includes standard vertical, raked, radiused and folding systems. The modular design features Kee Klamp® open-style fittings, which facilitate quick and easy installation of the horizontal rails and 100% recycled PVC counterweights. No welding, threading or bolting is required on site, which further speeds up and simplifies the installation process.
Suitable for installation on any flat roof up to a 10° slope, and compatible with concrete, asphalt, PVC membrane and felt roof surfaces, KeeGuard® can be used where a restraining wall is in place or where the rooftop is completely open around the perimeter. The flexible guardrail system can be used for retrofitting to older buildings as well as for new constructions.
The range is fully tested and either meets or exceeds current rooftop safety requirements, including EN13374 Class A, EN ISO 14122 Part 3 and BS 6399: Part 2 1995 Wind Codes.
Comments 1
What a fantastic idea, thanks for sharing. The importance of reviewing health and safety measures is so important for people working in the construction industry and developments like this are really promising to see. Brilliant that it is made of 100% recycled PVC counterweights too. Environmental and human sustainability will keep this industry thriving.