I'd be interested in opinions please.

We are required to replace a piece of IT equipment, which is located on the roof of a building. The building has a small lip (6 inches) and no edge protection. There is no man safe system.

The equipment is in the middle of the flat roof, with approx 4 metres either side of it, to the drop.

I feel that the landlord should install edge protection or a mansafe before I allow our engineers (trained in work restraint systems) go to do this job.

Some years ago when the kit was installed, we were advised by a consultant at the time, to use a temporary anchor system, which consisted of 16 block of concrete. I don't feel this is suitable as, there are no lifts, so it must be carried to the roof, a manual handling issue in itself, we are not trained in the use of them and it can't be tested in situ.

Before I go to the client with this, can anyone offer any alternatives or discuss whether I'm being over cautious or not?

Hi. Regardless of perception, and my perception is that 4 metres either side of the point of work is sufficient to prevent falls from height, so long as other factors are considered, e.g. wind speed, actual height of the roof, access and egress, strength of the roof etc, the HSE is much more black and white and you must follow the guidelines set out in HSE document INDG284. Hope this helps.

Thanks you for the replies.

I agree that in practice, it's perfectly safe to carry out the works. If it were something I needed to do in my personal life I would have no worries. Just looking through INDG284 and it says to me that edge protection is required. If not possible then a man safe is required.

The IT kit is small. No bigger than a home router. It is currently sat on a pole, so the old one will be taken off and a new one put on.

The roof is 6 floors up. Access would be through the main door on foot, up the stairs, out of the door onto the roof and walk across the roof to the equipment. No crane.

Hi. 6 floors up is high and I have heard of people doing risk assessments with an exclusion zone from the edge and 4 metres is a lot and could well be classed as safe, however, with the height, if there was a gust of wind then they could be in trouble and its not worth taking the risk if you ask me. I would install some sort of anchor system or rope access to keep them away from the edge, but it must be an approved method, or edge protection is the next answer.
Getting someone to do and sign a risk assessment is easy, but explaining to the family and the HSE is not so easy.

So to clarify, the best way forward for this scenario is to get the client to install guard rails?