Whether you’re carrying out commercial construction or retouching the flashing on your own home, safe working at height is essential. Staying safe when working on a roof is important not only for your safety but also to ensure you are meeting health and safety regulations that could see you penalised if they are not followed. Herein we explore the essentials of height safety when working on a roof.

Using a ladder

In some cases where roof access is simple and the job is easy to carry out it is possible to use a ladder only for roof repairs. This is possible where a few conditions are met. The job must take no longer than 30 minutes to complete, the work cannot require the lifting of more than 10 kg, the worker must be able to maintain three points of contact at all times while completing the work and, finally, the ladder must be properly secured. With a ladder roof hook this can be made possible, but where there is a big repair being required the likelihood is that you will need to have scaffolding installed for the job.

Height safety insurance

Before allowing anyone onto your roof it is also essential that they have insurance for working at height. Height safety can be very costly for a homeowner if the person in question hurts themselves and there is no insurance to cover this. Before allowing anyone onto your roof it is essential that you check they have the appropriate cover to protect themselves and you if they should happen to fall.

Making it worthwhile

Roof repairs can be very expensive because of the need for scaffolding and extra precautions, so it is not something that you want to pay for every year. Instead of just repairing flashing on your roof it is important to make sure that the roofing work is worthwhile as a large amount of the cost is simply in safe access. It is therefore always worth considering a full roof flashing or waterproofing treatment for your roof while you are having a repair carried out. Doing so can save you a huge amount in the long-run.