Fragile roof

Fragile surfaces

A roof or roof element (asbestos cement, fibre cement, glass, rooflights, corroded metal, wood wool) that will not bear a person's weight, requiring specific controls under the Work at Height Regulations before anyone goes near it.

Falls through fragile roofs kill several workers every year, most of them during maintenance or refurbishment on industrial and agricultural buildings, and many of them through rooflights that look solid. The regulations require that no one passes across or near, or works on or near, a fragile surface where it is reasonably practicable to do the work another way; where it is not, that suitable platforms, coverings, guardrails or similar are provided and used to support the weight and prevent a fall; where a risk of falling remains, that it is minimised (nets, harnesses); and that prominent warning notices are fixed at the approach to every fragile surface.

The controls in practice: identify fragile elements before the work (survey from below and from a MEWP, never by walking it), treat all rooflights as fragile whatever they look like, use staging boards and crawl boards on roof battens or purlins, guard or cover rooflights and openings, provide edge protection or nets, and brief everyone at the point of work. Asbestos cement sheeting adds the asbestos controls to the fall controls. The work at height permit is the usual authorisation.

Where it comes from

Questions people ask