A construction company or contractor has the responsibility to ensure that all workers have a safe site to work, not only on the roof, but also on the ground.
Falls are among the most common causes of serious work-related injuries and deaths. Construction companies and contractors must set up the workplace to prevent employees from falling off overhead platforms, elevated workstations, or into holes in the floor and walls.
UK Work at Height Regulations state that work at height means work in any place where, if precautions were not taken, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. A person is working at height if works above ground/floor level, could fall from an edge, through an opening or fragile surface, or could fall from ground level into an opening in a floor or a hole in the ground.
OSHA requires that fall protection be provided at elevations of 1.2m in general industry workplaces, 1.5m in shipyards, 1.8m in the construction industry and 2.4m in longshoring operations.
Taking that into account, each potential fall hazard such as the perimeter of the roof, skylights, ladders, access points all need to have fall protection measurements, among others, must have an adequate fall protection system.
