The Importance of Guardrail Kits on Access Hatches

Why guardrail kits for access hatches?

Roof access hatches are considered a hole in your roof. You need to protect it with some form of fall protection. The easiest and most common way to protect an access hatch is with a hatch guardrail kit. These are fixed onto the outside frame of the hatch not creating any penetrations for potential leaks. Paired with a self-closing protection gate, your hatch, would be considered safe per Australian Occupational Health & Safety guidelines.

Is your access hatch safe?

The most popular way of accessing roofs is through an access hatch. You climb and make your way up a ladder, open the door, and begin climbing out. Before you know it, you can be exposed to not one, but multiple fall hazards.

Fall hazards involving roof access hatches

There are many fall hazards involving access hatches, that is why it is so important to protect your roof hatch with guardrails

1. The hatch itself is a potential fall hazard. Depending on where your roof hatch is located, you could be standing next to another fall hazard, the edge of the roof.
2. Also, twisting and climbing required to exit an access hatch which can lead to a fall so protection is necessary on all access hatches.
3. Guardrail kits protect you from falling back into the access hatch in cases of tripping

Getting far away from the edge

Roofs are prone to high winds, slippery conditions, uneven surfaces, even impaired visibility due to reflective surfaces of skylights and solar panels. It would be very ideal to not be a meter away from a deadly fall when first stepping out of your roof hatch. A guardrail kit can negate all these hazards. Access hatch guardrail kits will give you a sturdy grabrails for stepping off your ladder. On top of that, if while approaching the hatch you were to trip, the guardrail will save from falling back inside the building, an equally painful descent. If you have an access hatch somewhere in the middle of the roof, then you still need to protect it according to Australian Occupational Health & Safety guidelines.

Watch Your Head!

Manoeuvring in and out of hatches can be tricky. The combination of climbing a ladder, opening the door, liftings the door over your head, then shimming out can be overwhelming on the typical roof user. Usually contractors would need to do all this with a full set of tools or equipment that needs to be brought to the roof.

That said, anything you can do to create a more stable and functional area for accessing your roof will bring peace to those who regularly use it.

It is important to protect your roof hatch because of the dangerous locations they are typically found, the code requirements of Australian Standards, and the ability to make a more functional work area for your employees. Putting up a simple access hatch guardrail kit with a safety gate is an easy, quick, and inexpensive way to resolve all of these issues.