Have you got home maintenance, gutter replacement or home renovations that requires  working at heights and roofing contractors? Want to know how to setup a harness kit properly and safely? Don’t know how to use a harness kit when working on roofing? Does your commercial guttering contract require safety harness kits to be used? We have been using harnesses and working at heights for over 10 years and have expert advice on anchor points and using safety harness kits when doing roofing work. When setting up a harness kits and safety lines, its important to know the 2 different types of setups to use, fall arrest or fall restraint. Most harness kits can be used for both types of roof safety setups. In South Australia the preference for roofing contractors and maintenance personnel is the fall restraint setup rather than the fall arrest setup. The fall restraint system is actually used to prevent a fall occurring in the first place and does not require the 15kn approved roofing anchor points. When using the fall restraint system the anchor point only needs to withstand 5kn of force. This often opens up a whole lot of available roofing anchor points that will easily keep a roofing contractor that weighs around 60kg safe from serious falls and accidents. Get experienced Adelaide gutter cleaning that are  professionally trained to work at heights in Australia.

If deciding to use the fall arrest system to give you a far greater range of movement rather than the fall restraint system, then its important to confirm the anchor point is approved to withstand 15kn of force. This roof safety setup will actually allow you to fall but “arrests” that fall before someone hits the ground and prevents an injury. When using the fall arrest system you need to always make sure the shock absorbing lanyard is used to help take the impact on the safety line if one falls and always have a planned method to “rescue” someone who falls because there is a window period of about an 30mins before blood circulation is cut off from the time of the fall arrest.

When working on commercial gutter cleaning jobs and conducting basic roofing maintenance you need a safety harness setup in either of the two roofing safety systems before you can conduct roofing services safely and comply with requirements of most companies JSA. Setting up a safety line when you are conducting roofing maintenance is quite simple after you learn and understand the basics of the harness kit. The components that should be in all Australian safety harness kits are as follows:

1. Approved Body Harness

2. Approved Safety Line

3. Safe Anchor Points

4. Shock Absorbent Lanyard

There are other extra safety components you can kit for your safety harness kit to customize it for various kinds of jobs. Some of the extra components you can get are retractable lanyards and tool restraint lanyards. Often commercial maintenance requires both these extra components to comply with their site JSA. When you start a job like commercial gutter cleaning, make sure your harness kit is kept away from solvents and sharp objects because they will compromise the safety of your harness kit if they come in contact. All safety lines and harnesses need to be checked for rips and tears before use and immediately discarded if integrity of the safety lines and harness is poor. In South Australia, all harness kits and safety lines have a mandatory lifespan of 10 years and then its required the safety line and harness is removed from service and replaced with a new kit.

Setting up your first anchor point can be a bit of a daunting task and on commercial guttering jobs there is no second chance if you fall. Being a roofing contractor, I can recall the time I first setup my anchor point. It was a large commercial factory that was about 12 meters high with a complete drop and the work required the box gutters cleaned and a down-pipe replaced. Most commercial premises require roof anchor points for contractors that work on the roof. However most commercial premises do not have adequate roof anchors installed and you will be required to use the fall restrain system with a sturdy fixed object to use as an anchor or bring your own portable anchor points. Make sure when you are working at heights on commercial premises that you check there are no other requirements on their JSA regarding anchor points. Remember to take your time when setting up your anchor points because you will not get a second chance if it fails.

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When it comes to self retracting lifelines, make sure you buy quality because it makes a big difference. The self retracting lifeline operates like a retractable car seat belt. This type of safety line essentially only allows you to slowly move around and will snap lock if you suddenly move of actually fall. They are just like a car seat belt and allow slack into the line to slowly be pulled out but sudden jerking movements will lock the retracting mechanism in place preventing or arresting the fall. These safety lifelines used in conjunction with a standard lifeline is possibly the best setup when conducting roofing maintenance & commercial gutter cleaning because it allows for freedom of movement and also allows for an even more effective fall restraint system. These safety lifelines come in various sizes, but the general range is 10m to 25m retractable safety line. When purchasing a retractable lifelines make sure they are Australian approved, as some are cheaper imitation and are not approved.