CUSTOM DESIGNED AND FABRICATED FOR YOUR SITE

Like almost every other height safety company in Australia, we use to buy in pre made roof access ladders, platforms and caged ladders. There is only really one main supplier for all this equipment. We would then take this pre made products and try and make them fit the site. Often it was quite difficult to ensure that the installation meet the Australian Standards and more often than not, we were cutting bits off and screwing new bits on in an attempt to meet compliance.

The frustration from not being able to offer a better solution to our valued clients drove us to start our own engineering department. After an exhaustive search we found an excellent metal fabricator, brought a welder and partnered with a local structural engineer firm to start creating our designs. Fast forward a few years and we now have a fully functional fabrication division at Safe@Heights who design and custom fabricate all of our own roof access ladders, caged ladders, platforms, roof access stairs and steel products. We are able to offer unique site specific solutions that no one else can. We can guarantee compliance with the Australian Standards and ensure that the system we install is as safe as possible.

The result of our dedication to quality is that we now have custom designs to suit any location and any circumstance. And if we haven’t come across your particular issue before, we are able to design a new solution just for you

THE MAIN EXAMPLE WE HAVE FOR JUST HOW IMPORTANT HAVING CUSTOM MADE PRODUCTS SPECIFICALLY MADE FOR YOUR SITE ARE ROOF ACCESS LADDERS. THE AUSTRALIAN STANDARD AS1657 GIVES VERY STRICT GUIDELINES ON THE DESIGN AND INSTALLATION OF LADDERS AND WE OFTEN FIND ISSUES WITH EXISTING INSTALLS WHERE THE INSTALL COMPANY HAS TRIED TO MAKE A PRE FABRICATED ONE FIT.

However due to how specific AS1657 is, this just can’t happen. “Just making it fit” often means having a ladder that does not fully comply with the Standard. And if you are paying to have a new system installed, you would expect that it would comply.

Below is a list of some of the main requirements for compliance with AS1657 for an angled rung ladder,

• Angled should be between 70° and 75°
• Must have a lower landing that is 600mm wide by 900mm long which is leveled to within 7°
• Must have an upper landing that is 600mm wide by 900mm long leveled to within 3°
• Must have grab rails installed
• Platforms must have edges clearly marked
• Maximum height of platform must not exceed 300mm unless guard railing is installed
• Maximum angle of roof next to platforms must not exceed 12° unless guard railing is installed
• Ladder height must not exceed 6m without installing a cage (we recommend cages after 3m in height for added safety)
• Rungs must be non slip
• Stiles must be able to fit within an 80mm circle
• Minimum width between stiles must not be less than 380mm or greater than 525mm
• Step through stiles at the top must be no less than 525mm and no more than 675mm
• Stiles must extend a minimum of 1000mm above step off point

There are a lot more requirements than this, but these are the main points.

All anchor points must be inspected and certified by a competent and licenced person every 12 months. If they are being used on a regular basis or are in a harsh environment then it should be more often. But as a general rule 12 months is fine. This 12 monthly inspection requirement comes from AS1891.4

Most roof anchors only require a visual inspection. However glue in and friction type (usually installed in concrete) must be load tested to 50% of their nominated capacity for 3 minutes. For a 15kN rated anchor points that is 7.5kN. The only exemption to this is for concrete mounted if they have been cast in.

For many years the standard ladder for accessing one level to another on a roof was an angled ladder. But we are seeing a growing trend from clients who are moving away from this in favour of roof access stairs. With the introduction of the WHS Act in 2012, height safety was given a greater priority. Due to this people in  OH&S positions have taken more time to read the relevant Australian Standards and are realising that there is a hierarchy within AS1657 that clearly states that stairs should be considered over ladders and that if you install ladders instead of stairs you need to be able to justify this in accordance with the conditions as set out in Appendix G of AS1657.

Over the last 12 months we have developed our new range of roof access stairs that are lighter, easier to install and that meet all the requirements of AS1657. For more information on our range of roof access ladders and roof access stairs please contact us.