May 23rd, 2020

Roof falls

Working on roofs can be high risk

Many activities carried out on roofs are considered ‘construction work’

This includes work carried out in connection with altering,
converting, renovating, repairing, maintaining, demolishing or dismantling a roof of a structure

Examples of these activities include

  • tiling
  • roofing restoration
  • installing solar panels

Minor work on roofs that is not considered ‘construction work’, for example cleaning roof gutters or replacing individual roof tiles, can also have the same hazards, especially the risk of falls

There have been several serious incidents recently involving working on roofs

https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/injury-prevention-safety/alerts/incident-alerts/2020/roof-falls

https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/news/2020-05/man-dies-fall-incident

For more on safe work on roofs see the information sheet here from safeworkaustralia.gov.au/