Page 1577 - Xmo Strata - Bulletin Archive

Health, Safety, Security & Environmental Bulletin No 590

19 October 2017

Canopy Fall Arrest

To All Xmo Strata Site teams:

In February 2016, as part of our Safety Day feedback sessions you identified a fall whilst working on a
canopy as one of the three most likely fatalities that you face. Since then, our MD has spent 5 days
watching gutter replacement and canopy re-sheeting jobs and we have employed an Ex-Chairman of the
National Federation of Roofing Contractors and winner of 17 International Safety Awards to also attend
site with us and assist us.

Since then, we have made 9 improvements to our safe systems of work and have produced two videos
that we have shared Best Practice with others in the industry by posting both on our You Tube channel;
work is ongoing!

Our findings have been that many canopies were built before CDM Regulations came into force and
maintenance was not a consideration at the time they were designed. Some that were designed with the
CDM Regulations in mind do have eye bolts fitted but these are not tested annually, so using them does
not comply with safety legislation.

We have shared our findings with clients, including photographs of the challenges we face that we
shared with you at our 2017 Safety Awareness Day and have shared the progress made and the
challenges that we still face and what we are doing to address these issues. In the meantime, your safety
is our number one priority and the safety observations you have shared have been very helpful in this
process. All those sites that do not have suitable anchor points have been logged on XmoMan so we are
aware and can plan our safe system of work before we attend.

We know that you may have seen and continue to see others working on a canopy without suitable or
tested anchor points and from the ground all looks fine BUT this is a risk that we are not prepared for
you to accept. IF YOU CANNOT ANCHOR SAFELY, THEN DO NOT WORK!!!

The latest safety observation shared by one of our engineers (pictured below) demonstrates a very poor
understanding of canopy design. The engineer that has previously worked on this roof has clearly not
been able to find a suitable anchor point, so has improvised and his solution is not secure enough to
support him in the event of a fall. This improvised anchor point would likely be pulled out of the sheets
it is fixed to or the sheet would pull away from the canopy if any shock load was applied.