A recent incident in which two roofers who fell from height were saved from serious injury by a safety net has prompted a fall-arrest trade body to remind employers of the importance of compliance in this area.
The men had been working on a roof when a freak gust of wind picked up a composite roof panel and knocked them both off the roof and into the safety netting below. The main contractor immediately instigated the site’s work-at-height rescue plan and the roofers were lowered to the ground, where they received treatment for injuries sustained by being hit by the panel.
According to FASET – Fall Arrest Safety Equipment and Training – the workers’ lives were saved because the safety netting on the site had been installed by a FASET safety net rigging company. The organisation said the incident is a “stark reminder that when selecting a safety net installation company you must ensure that not only are the riggers certified with the appropriate CSCS FASET skills card but the products they are installing are appropriate, and maintained and inspected to the highest standards”.
FASET adds that employers must ensure that safety nets installed on their sites are compliant and should ask to see the installer company’s annual FASET membership certificate.
For further information, or to confirm a company’s membership status or validity of a membership certificate, visit www.faset.org.uk/member-list.htm
