Roof experts reveal all about falls

Roofing industry experts have concluded that most falls are the result of fragile roofs, fragile rooflights and unguarded edges.

The experts, who have been examining Health and Safety Executive prosecutions data to investigate falls from heights associated with roofing, also found that a significant proportion of the prosecutions were concerned with untrained 'roofers' who either ignored or lacked training in matters of safety, and were working to inadequate method statements and risk assessments.

The committee met to look at design decisions that could have contributed to the underlying causes of accidents.

The main findings of the project are being published in a BRE Information Paper - Designing Roofs with Safety in Mind - which will be available in April 2004.

The findings of the next stage of the project will be published as a Good Practice Guidance in March 2005. This guidance will be based on reviews of current good practice guidance and a wide range of BRE roof condition surveys.