SUMMER MAINTENANCE
about the dangers of falling through a roof. Particularly now, as summer approaches and rooftop maintenance features higher up the ‘to do’ list.
It perhaps makes sense to think about the various issues that can affect the structural integrity of rooflights. These can relate to the manufacture of the products themselves, how they are installed, and how they are used and maintained. When initially sold, many manufacturers will make claims about the non-fragility of their products. But in fact, they all stop short of actually guaranteeing this, probably because they know there are so many factors that can impact their ‘as-designed’ or ‘as- tested’ performance.
To begin with, poor installation can mean a rooflight does not perform as tested. Manufacturers
usually have very specific fixing arrangements which, if not adhered to, can undermine the integrity of the rooflight. Minor structural intolerances, as occur in most builds, mean the placement of secondary steel purlins can deviate from plans by just a few centimetres. This can lead to installers having to improvise and make uncontrolled design changes when fixing units – making the rooflight less robust. Similarly, well-intentioned roofers looking to ensure weather tightness sometimes over-tighten the fixings for the rooflight so much that they actually damage and weaken the unit.
Degradation is also an issue; even if the rooflight is installed correctly, it naturally degrades over the lifetime of the building. The majority of good quality rooflights will have an outer layer included during the manufacturing process to protect the unit from UV damage. While only a few microns in thickness, this layer is very important because UV rays cause the rooflight to become brittle and structurally unsound.
This layer thins over time; assuming uniform degradation, it is typically expected to last 25 years. But there are factors that can shorten this lifespan. Whether in their manufacture, installation or general use, rooflights are subject to accidental damage. On a roof, especially an aged and dirty one (just like in our case above), it is very difficult to differentiate between an in-plane rooflight and a regular roof panel. Someone walking on or dropping a tool on it, for example, can easily scratch the UV protection layer, thereby accelerating its degradation. Its location and relative exposure to sunlight and severe weather also impact the durability of the coating, so it is very difficult to estimate the rate of degradation and therefore guarantee performance versus the predicted life of the product.
All this boils down to a simple conclusion – that rooflights present an unknown, and often unquantifiable, risk to anyone working on a roof. The list of cases like the one above, where a worker has fallen through a roof, is long and growing. This is proof
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that taking an ‘it will probably be OK’ approach isn’t good enough.
Facilities managers need to be confident about the risks they’re dealing with. So what should they be doing to identify and mitigate this risk? The commonly used approach of visual demarcation is often ineffective, due to glare, dirt or snow. Hence, this alone cannot be considered a solution.
In the short-term, improved working practices can be considered. The facilities manager should favour employing specialist, highly-trained contractors who use harnesses and personal fall protection equipment to carry out an initial inspection and clean of the rooflights. Whilst being more expensive, when done correctly this adequately manages risk and allows for the development of a detailed map for other workers and contractors to refer to later.
In the longer term, it is preferable to install a permanent ‘engineered’ solution around the rooflights that eliminates the fall hazard altogether. While this kind of solution exists today, they’re considered aesthetically intrusive and/or tend to limit the amount of natural daylight transmitted through the roof. This of course compromises the initially intended benefits of better light for the people working inside the building, and the energy savings from less reliance on electrical lighting. Both of these issues have been a barrier to the adoption of currently-available engineered solutions. Fixfast will soon be launching a new rooflight solution that addresses these problems.
Facilities managers should also consider installing permanent access systems to allow for safer and more cost-effective inspection and maintenance by less specialised contractors and staff.
So, it’s high time we addressed the rooflight blind spot and did something to reduce the number of fall-from- height bad news stories. The good news is that there are practical steps facilities managers can take to protect rooftop workers and companies that employ them.
www.fixfast.com TOMORROW’S FM | 23
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