This safety alert reminds persons conducting business or undertaking (PCBUs), person with management and control of site, installers, designers, manufacturers and workers of the risks associated with inadequate temporary edge protection system and provides advice on minimising those risks in complying with the duties under WHS legislation.

Background:

SafeWork NSW has observed an increased number of incidents involving temporary edge protection systems. Some incidents were:

Incident 1: Two workers fell more than 9 meters when a temporary edge protection system failed while lifting a sheet metal roof flashing.

Incident 2: A worker fell more than 4 meters from the roof of a newly constructed residential building, following the collapse of non-designed timber edge protection.

Incident 3: Two workers fell approximately 4 meters after sliding down the roof and impacting the edge protection system.

Incident 4: A worker fell approximately 4 meters to the ground, when he slipped on glazed terracotta tiles on roof and he went over the edge protection system.

Risks of inadequate edge protection system include:

  • falls from height
  • falling objects
  • collapse of the temporary edge protection system.

Action required:

Work Health and Safety legislation requires designers, manufacturers, installers and workers to manage risks to health and safety associated with risks of using temporary edge protection systems.

Careful planning and preparation before starting the work with adequately considered documentation, is necessary to ensure health and safety risks are sufficiently managed. It is reasonably practicable to comply with AS/NZS 4994.1 Temporary edge protection, Part 1: General Requirements and AS/NZS 4994.2 Temporary edge protection- Installation and dismantling.

Specific control measures

  • Temporary edge protection system needs to be designed, manufactured and tested in accordance with AS/NZS 4994.1 by a competent person and should not comprise of any components other than prescribed by the manufacturer or a competent person such as structural engineer.
  • Temporary edge protection system should not use or comprise of any components other than prescribed by the manufacturer or a competent person such as structural engineer.
  • Temporary edge protection system must be designed to withstand the static point load of 600 N or uniformly distributed load of 350 N lineal metre applied to the post or top rails in all relevant directions. The design should also allow for dynamic load caused by a person, wind and other environmental loads impacting against the roof edge protection.
  • Installers must assess the roof type, supporting surface and connection points to determine the suitable type of system and anchors. For example, concrete screw anchors with certain length, minimum embedment and diameter may be needed for a concrete surface or wall as prescribed by the manufacturer.
  • When roof edge protection is used, they must provide optimum protection for each construction activity and when the site activity changes, they must be adjusted accordingly. This is to ensure that gaps are kept minimal and falls risk are managed accordingly.
  • Refer to Roof edge protection fact sheet for guidance on selecting roof edge protection, pre-installation/dismantling requirements and post-installation requirements.
  • Any notifiable incidents must be immediately reported to SafeWork NSW by calling 13 50 10. Further information on Incident notification can be found on SafeWork NSW website Incident notification.

Further information and guidance material:

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