Installing equipment on your rooftop will always come with a certain risk where you need to consider safety. There are several things to assess, like equipment layout and placement, accessibility for maintenance crews, how traffic on the rooftop will flow, also how foot traffic can end up affecting the integrity of your roof.

The following are a few common risks associated with rooftop equipment:

• Any carelessness can lead to certain accidents
• A heavy weight of your equipment can make your roof weak
• Various pipes used for different equipment can give rise to certain leakages
• Often electrical cables may cause the possibility of fire
• Your roof may turn out to be a too complicated space

Con-form Group is one of the well-known groups in Australia that is in business for many years and can offer many solutions to address a few of the above problems if you decide to install your equipment on the roof.

An agile, safe, and also lightweight solution can be offered by roof access walkways that can be ideal for roof pitches that are 1° to 20° up the roof. The range available includes both standard and levelled aluminium walkways, which are having modular guide rail systems for fast and effective installation.

A few types of equipment are very important to the ongoing operations of any commercial building. A few of them may not be as important too. Which equipment needs the highest priority in terms of roof access are as follows:

• Pipes and electrical cables
• HVAC and ducts
• Elevator equipment

A few best Practices for your rooftop access

You need to follow certain ground rules (for your roof). You must call the roofing contractors from time to time to visit to inspect your rooftop. Also, you must inspect the equipment, and maintain/repair them if needed. You must provide the following types of access.

1. Whenever possible, roof equipment must be at least 6 feet away from the roof edge. This will keep workers safe without using any safety harnesses and many other protective gears.
2. In case it is not practical to place your equipment away from your roof edge, then you must consider providing an elevated walkway supported by railings. This can dramatically increase worker safety and can shield your business from liability.
3. At all times, discourage the maintenance workers from directly walking on the roof surface. A few alternatives, like elevated roof walkways with non-penetrating applications, must be employed to provide a certain safety system that can protect both the roof surface and also the people walking above it.

Summary

One of the best ways of protecting your roof, equipment, and also your maintenance workers will be to create a certain holistic walkway system of rooftop access, stairs, equipment platforms, and crossovers.

This will allow your workers to be there where they have to go without risking themselves or your rooftop surface. Maintenance workers on the roof surface may be at higher risk of falling and tripping, but offering a walkway with handrails can minimize this risk.

Any custom-designed system can make any roof safer and more accessible, and workers too can maintain and repair it easily.