How to inspect and maintain roof anchor points

19 Mar How to inspect and maintain roof anchor points

You’ve gone through the selection and installation process… now what?

Roof anchor points are invaluable when it comes to working at heights. Falls from heights kill approximately 26 workers and injure another 7,700 each year in Australia. If you or your team work at heights, having the right roof anchor points is essential to prevent fall fatalities.

A roof anchor point is generally used in tandem with other height safety personal protection equipment (PPE) such as harnesses or lanyard fall protection systems. Both permanent and temporary anchor points are available.

Roof anchor points are used for two primary purposes or systems:

1. Fall arrest systems
2. Rope access systems

At AHSS, we sell anchor points for both purposes, at two different price points. We can design, supply and install a compliant and user-friendly roof anchor point system for workers at any height.

Want to learn more about how and why roof anchor point systems are used? Call us today on 1800 850 121 or book a roof access safety service using our secure online contact form.

How to maintain roof anchor points

Here’s the good news: practically zero maintenance is required by you to maintain your roof anchor point system, provided it has been professionally installed and correctly configured.

However, it should be inspected approximately every six to 12 months by a qualified technician to ensure anchorage points and safety lines continue to perform as intended. This is important not only to ensure your own personal safety and that of your employees but also to maintain compliance with Australian height safety standards and regulations.

For most premises, roof safety re-certification is required every 12 months. This is an obligation that cannot be overlooked since unsafe height safety systems can cause serious injury or death.

When dealing with an issue as serious as height safety compliance, it is essential that all inspections and installations are carried out by licensed professionals and that they use high-quality products and equipment.

Why is roof safety re-certification important?

Aside from the legal obligation to maintain height safety compliance, roof safety re-certification is crucial because of all the things that can go wrong when working at heights.

At AHSS, we recommend getting your roof anchor point system checked every six to 12 months because of how fundamental a good roof anchor point system is to fall prevention.

Think about it: roof anchorages are designed to stop a person hitting the ground if they experience a fall, even fully equipped in a harness. Roof anchor points are arguably the most important part of an entire height safety system.

The regulations that deal with roof anchor points are outlined in Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice, which is produced by the Australian government statutory body, Safe Work Australia. They state that roof safety certification must be completed by a competent person before a system is used for the first time, after which, roof safety re-certification is required periodically to ensure the system remains safe and compliant.

So while your roof anchor point system will basically look after itself, you still need to cover yourself and your workers by booking a roof access safety service every six to 12 months.

Why choose AHSS?

At AHSS, we offer roof safety certification and re-certification so that workplaces can achieve compliant height safety systems. Our roof access safety services involve a thorough inspection of your premises by our qualified height safety technicians, and we also provide a quote for what needs to be done if there are any problems or maintenance issues.

With more than 25 years experience in recommending and installing height protection and fall prevention systems, we consider ourselves experts in workplace safety regulations. We can help familiarise you with the Australian regulations for height safety compliance across each State and ensure you and your workers avoid health and safety risks.

We use only the highest-quality products that have been engineered and manufactured in Australia. We pride ourselves on providing access and fall protection systems you can trust, and we recommend the Sayfa range of systems and products because they offer full traceability from manufacture to installation. Sayfa‘s products have been specially designed to not only meet but exceed Australian regulatory standards across commercial, industrial and domestic applications.

For more information on our height safety products and services, contact us here or call the AHSS team on 1800 850 121.