Safesite, a supplier of fall protection solutions, has provided Roehampton Sports and Fitness Centre with a collective roof edge protection system that ensures optimum roof top safety for maintenance and inspection teams.
The building previously had no roof safety measures in place, with maintenance teams having to assess the flat roof via portable ladders to carry out inspection work. It therefore became necessary for the building to have a safety upgrade comprising a complete roof protection system that enabled safe access.
The brief was to conduct a site evaluation, provide a full design package, and install the specified system. Safesite recommended the installation of KeeWalk, KeeGuard, KeeGuard Topfix, Wireanka, and an access ladder. The combination of these products has reportedly provided the very best roof top safety solution.
“We are extremely satisfied with the end result,” says Lukasz Plaska, project officer of the design service serving Richmond and Wandsworth Councils. “The safety solutions installed by Safesite provide the perfect safe access solution and are a vast improvement to the previous existing unsafe access methods.”
Kee Walk is a permanent roof top walkway solution for use on composite, trapezoidal metal profiles and standing seam roofs. The system is said to provide a demarcated walking surface protecting the roof’s surface from unnecessary foot traffic and potential damage. As an off-the-shelf, modular system which can be easily adapted to a wide range of different roof, pitches and configurations, KeeWalk is described as easy to install and cost-effective on either flat, barrel or sloping surfaces.
Compatible with a range of roof membranes, including concrete, asphalt, PVC membrane, metal and felt, KeeGuard offers a free-standing roof edge protection system reportedly capable of keeping workers on the roof safe without endangering the roof membrane itself. It does not penetrate the roof surface and can be used on flat roofs up to 10° slope. Employing a counterweight system, KeeGuard combines a non-slip secure base with galvanised fittings and tube arranged in a modular configuration. Fully modular and able to adapt to most roof edge profiles and level changes, sections can be easily taken down and re-erected as necessary.
KeeGuard Topfix is said to provide a simple solution when collective protection is the preferred safety option for metal profile and standing seam roofs up to 45° pitch. The powder-coated base plate, which incorporates multiple fixing centres, allows installation to a wide range of popular roofs. Being an ‘off the shelf’ product, specification is said to be simple and it also removes the need to fabricate a different solution for each site, minimising site visits and down time.
Wireanka is a system of deadweight anchor devices designed to support Class `C’ horizontal, flexible safety lines to BS EN 795. It is intended for use on flat roofs, in temporary situations, or where it is preferable the penetration of the roof surface be avoided.
