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Falls from height remain one of the leading causes of serious injuries on construction and maintenance sites, and the Work at Height Regulations 2005 place a clear responsibility on employers and building owners to provide a safe means of access wherever work takes place above ground level. A single anchor point is often the right specification for a one-off task on flat roofs. But as soon as a job involves more than one worker, a longer route across the roof surface, or repeat visits for maintenance, a single fixed point starts to fall short of what's needed to keep workers safe. This is where a properly specified roof access system, built around Kee Anchor® and Kee Line®, helps prevent falls as part of a wider fall protection system.
Kee Anchor® is Kee Safety's range of fixed and portable anchor point solutions, engineered to keep workers safe wherever collective edge protection isn't practical, and forms part of a broader fall protection system for many sites. The best known of these is Weightanka®, a mobile, non-penetrating deadweight anchor conforming to Class E of BS EN 795 and BS 7883. It's suitable for flat roofs up to 5 degrees pitch, and can also be used on pitched roofs, specifically industrial steel-clad roofs up to 15 degrees, provided it's positioned on the opposite pitch to where the work is taking place. It sits directly on the roof surface using rubber-coated base weights and suction cups, so nothing needs to be drilled or fixed to hold it securely in place, which matters on leased buildings, fragile membranes, and older roofs where warranty concerns rule out permanent fixings.
A single Weightanka® unit is ideal for one worker carrying out a short, low-frequency task, such as inspecting plant equipment or accessing a roof access hatch for routine maintenance. What it isn't designed to do is cover an extended route, or support several workers moving independently across a roof at the same time. That's a different specification challenge, and it's where Kee Line® comes in.
Kee Anchor® Weightanka® in use on a flat roof, providing a non-penetrating restraint point.
Collective edge protection, in the form of guardrails such as Kee Guard®, remains the preferred control wherever it's practical to install. But edge protection systems aren't always an option. Composite roofs, standing seam roofs, and roofs shared between tenants or landlords often can't accommodate a permanent guardrail run, whether for structural, aesthetic or contractual reasons. In these cases, a personal fall protection system anchored to the roof, rather than fixed edge protection along the perimeter, becomes the practical route to compliance, and it's essential this is confirmed by a proper risk assessment before work begins.
Kee Line® is a horizontal lifeline system that lets workers stay permanently attached while moving freely along a defined route, rather than being tied to one fixed point. It typically uses 8mm grade 316 stainless steel wire, tested to EN 795 2012, CEN TS 16415:2013, ANSI Z359 and CSA Z259, and spans up to 12 metres between posts, with capacity for up to three users at any one time. Anchor posts are engineered for a wide range of different roof types, including standing seam, membrane, tiled and profiled sheet, and can be fixed directly to the building structure or, via Postanka®, mounted to concrete decks and steelwork where a through-fix anchor is preferred.
Kee Line® horizontal lifeline gives workers hands-free movement across the roof while staying attached.
Kee Safety offers different types of anchor point depending on what the roof and the task demand. Postanka® is a fabricated, hot-dip galvanised anchor designed for permanent fixing to a building's structure. Weightanka® is the portable, non-penetrating option covered above. Where a job calls for both reach and flexibility, Wireanka® links a series of Weightanka® deadweight anchors together using the Kee Line® horizontal lifeline, typically at around 15 metre centres. Together, these roof anchors form a complete route across the roof surface without a single fixing into it.
Because the shuttle attaching each worker to the system glides over intermediate brackets without needing to detach, this configuration gives genuinely hands-free movement along the whole length of the safety line. It also satisfies HSG 33's requirement for demarcated safe access routes, useful where a site needs to demonstrate that workers are kept within a defined, risk-assessed zone rather than free to roam the whole roof.
Any anchor-based system can be designed for fall restraint or fall arrest, and the two aren't interchangeable. Restraint keeps a worker's lanyard short enough that they physically cannot reach the leading edge, so the free fall distance is zero, and it's the preferred outcome wherever it can be achieved. Fall arrest systems are needed where restraint isn't practical, and here minimum edge distance and free fall distance become essential to the design, alongside a written rescue plan, since the regulations require one to be in place before any fall arrest system is used on site.
Getting this right isn't something to guess at. It should be set by a competent person following a risk assessment carried out on the specific roof, its pitch, its surface, and how workers will actually move around it, in line with current health and safety regulations.
A Wireanka® configuration links multiple Kee Anchor® units via Kee Line® to create a demarcated safe route.
The first step for any multi-point roof access system is a hazard assessment survey. Kee Safety's technical team uses this to work out anchor spacing, configuration, and whether restraint or arrest is the right approach for the roof in question, whether that's a warehouse roof needing safe access for gutter cleaning, a plant room requiring temporary access for contractors, or a pitched roof with recurring maintenance needs. Once installed, BS 7883 requires the system to be inspected and recertified at least annually by a competent engineer, along with any associated PPE, to comply with current regulations.
Specifying the right equipment at the design stage, rather than defaulting to scaffolding or ad hoc solutions for every project, keeps ongoing costs down and keeps the safety system compliant for the long term.
A single Kee Anchor® solves one problem well. Linking anchor points via Kee Line® into a Wireanka® configuration solves a bigger one: safe access across a roof that can't take permanent edge protection, for however many workers the job requires. For facilities managers and building owners planning ongoing roof work, that difference is often what separates a genuinely compliant safety system from a series of one-off fixes.
Speak to Kee Safety
Kee Safety has been separating people from hazards since 1934, designing, testing and manufacturing every product in the Kee® range at its own test centre before it reaches a roof. If your building needs more than a single anchor point, our technical team can carry out a free site safety survey and recommend the right roof safety system for your project, whether that's a standalone Kee Anchor®, a Kee Line® lifeline, or a full Wireanka® configuration. Contact Kee Safety to arrange a survey.