HSE has got roof safety covered

Sir; You carried an article (CJ gets HSE to reprint roof manual, 8 Dec) about the Health and Safety Executive's guidance on roofwork safety and the difficulty in obtaining copies of publications.

In 1993, HSE launched a major campaign on roofwork safety including trade press advertising, information packs and local information seminars, followed by an enforcement initiative which was widely publicised. The campaign pack included a series of useful and very practical information sheets which have been made widely available free of charge. The information sheets are still available - numbers 20, 21, 22 and 23 are relevant.

Guidance note GS10 'Roofwork Prevention of Falls' was withdrawn in September 1987 and replaced by HSG33 'Safety in Roofwork'. GS10 has therefore been out of print for over seven years. In the meantime, stocks of HSG33 have been exhausted and the guidance is due for revision before it is reprinted. The information sheets provide adequate information to fill the gap.

All HSE publications, free and priced, are available by mail order from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 6FS (Tel: 0787 881165).

Priced publications are also available from our main retail agents Dillons and from all good booksellers including HMSO bookshops. Out of print publications, for example GS10 and HSG33, can be obtained from the British Library Document Supply Centre, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ (Tel: 0937 5465000).

The information sheets on roofwork safety are available from HSE area offices. Finally, we do not intend to 'rush out new guidance'. We do intend to publish the results of the roofwork campaign later this year.

Peter H Rimmer

Health & Safety Executive