Fragile surfaces:
As mentioned above, fragile surfaces on roofs is a major contributor to accidents occurring. “fragile surfaces” is given the definition of “a surface which would be liable to fail if any reasonably foreseeable loading were to be applied to it”.
Any work on fragile roofs, however trivial it may seem, should be carefully assessed, planned and supervised, and all roofs should be treated as fragile until a competent person has confirmed they are not.
Therefore as part of the assessment process, the factors that could cause fragility should be addressed including:
- general deterioration of the roof due to ageing, neglect and lack of maintenance.
- corrosion of metal clad roofs and fixings.
- quality of the original installation.
- selection of original material, fixings and washers.
- subsequent impact and thermal damage.
- deterioration of the supporting structure, sheeting and fixings from below due to processes within the building and other causes.
- damage from rain and storm water leading to random areas of weakness.