Freestanding guardrail to prevent children falling off a school roof

Location: Hackney, London, UK
Products: KeeGuard

For this school in London, concerns were raised after children were found retrieving footballs that accidentally landed on the roof. Following this incident, the school decided to protect anyone (intentionally or unintentionally) accessing the roof, through the installation of a freestanding roof edge protection system.

Understanding the customer’s fall protection needs

The issue of vicarious liability

If anything had happened to the children who accessed the roof, the school could have been liable, even if the children were trespassing. This situation falls under the umbrella of ‘vicarious liability’, a term used to describe a situation where someone is held responsible for the actions or omissions of another person (source). In the UK, if building owners fail to implement safety measures to prevent users from falling over the roof edge, they could be considered negligent and therefore responsible for the accident.

To avoid liability and to ensure that users are protected at all times, the school decided to have a roof guardrail installed immediately.

Roof edge protection system for a school in Hackney

Following a site survey, we suggested KeeGuard, our freestanding roof edge protection system. Our main reasons were:

A passive fall protection system designed to keep anyone safe

The system is a collective fall protection solution, which means that it can protect users without them having to go through any system training or wear any PPE. In this case, the guardrail would protect both children and roof maintenance staff.

Freestanding handrail system

A roof handrail that is quick and easy to install

KeeGuard can be fitted quickly, helping save time on installation. This was especially important for this project, as work needed to be carried out during school break. A team of 2 installers can fit around 80m of KeeGuard in a day; no specialist tools or special training is required for the installation either.

Approx 200m of guardrail were installed in 3 days

Thoughts on installation

During the site survey, our team highlighted all the areas that required roof edge protection. The school chose our turn-key package, where a fall protection solution is configured, supplied and installed for the customer. In total, approximately 200 linear metres of KeeGuard and several self-closing gates were installed in 3 days, ensuring that the school roof was protected and the works were completed before the school started.

KeeGuard was installed on all flat roof areas for this school in London

The school roof is a safer place now and the risk of falling over the edge is significantly reduced.

If you are looking for a freestanding guardrail system to suit a school or university, get in touch with our team: we would love to help you make roofs a safer place.

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