We are a social landlord with a portfolio of around 17,500 properties to manage and maintain. We have an issue which we are trying to resolve where property surveyors need to inspect the integrity of flat roofs. Access to the majority of the roofs is via a hatch from the main landing which presents a risk of falling from a number of angles, i.e. lack of edge protection, use of a ladder to access the trap hatch, etc. Blocks of flats typically 3 storey and above. I've seen a few companies offering camera surveying equipment on long poles which I've thought may resolve the issue. Has anyone done anything similar or can recommend a course of action which doesn't involve exspensive edge protection and fall restraint measures just to carry out an inspection? Recommendations and/or links or advice would very much be appreciated. Thanks.

What are you inspecting for? If it's small stuff (cracks in felt, blocked gutters, loose fittings, etc.) then there's no substitute for eyes-on; no matter how good your camera is, you won't get the coverage and angles, and you can't wiggle something to see if it's loose. We've used telescopic poles for simple pre-entry work (checking for rails, etc.) - a camcorder on a ball-and-socket mount scavenged from the top of a cheap tripod, clamped to the end of a window-cleaner pole from the world's favorite DIY superstore - but of course you can't see round corners. Similarly, the field of view of a pipe ROV is extremely restricted, their long-distance images are terrible, and they can't climb over walls. I've played about with a camcorder stuck on a remote-control car, but to get the thing to point where you want requires a whole heap of servos and glue, and of course without a live feed you get stuck a lot (ask NASA). Assuming the roof is actually load-bearing, training your inspectors to work safely using restraint PPE is not difficult at all; though they would usually have to work in pairs. It's not expensive apart from the initial training, as all their PPE is reusable from site to site. For restraint on a rooftop you generally don't need to install special anchor points.

If after a pre inspection you need to access the roof then there is a clamp that clamps between door frames and or window frames that a landyard and harness is attached to keep the person secure paticularly in areas where there are no rails.