Posted By Mart "As far as is reasonably practicable". An HSE inspector called on one of our sites and made no comment, so we presumed it must have been OK.

Posted By Ken Taylor Generally observed to be 'industry practice' and probably OK if scaffold incorporates adequate fall-protection and risk of injury from internal fall is not significant.

Posted By Chris Pope The answer is in HSG33 H&S in roofwork from HSE books, they give a an answer there which is "bent" a little by most roofers. Using the battens is ok if they are good quality

Posted By martin gray1 Hi All Thought I would just throw in my views from experience in construction. I hasten to add this was not gained in a H&S role which is the role that I now do. The most dangerous point when roofing, I would have thought is when you are laying out the felt. Because you are lapping over the sheet below you are in fact leaning over an open gap as you layout the next section. This is prior to any battens going on the felt! This is the point at which I would have thought a fall is most likely to occur. I am no longer in construction and was wondering do roofers now have to wear a safety harness when on a site and carrying out this task? MG

Posted By Mark Ellis Hello all, 600mm is the standard spacing on trussed roofs, hand-cut roofs are usually less,the maximum step-up from scaffold to fascia is 400mm this is strictly enforced by roofing contractors & stated in their r/a. fall arrest equipment below the trusses is not required at present. If the pitch of the roof were above 45o then specific r/a would be required in my opinion. To my knowledge this is a low risk activity unlike refurb/maintenance work on roofs. In my opinion the greater risk applies to the carpenter when erecting the trusses ie fixing the top binder which may be 2 or 3 meters from the base of the truss sometimes more. hope this helps, Merry Christmas. Mark.

Posted By Ken Taylor We used to have more specific guidance on measures for a range of roof pitches in the old version of HSG33 but these days 'risk assessment' is the 'buzz-phrase' so the 'ball' is more 'in your court' and you get prosecuted if an injury incident occurs. The CITB refer to using secured crawling ladders or boards and catch barriers or eaves platforms with edge protection on sloping roofs. They advise that crawling boards are not required if strong battens provide safe hand/foot-holds. Where roof batten spacing is greater than 400mm, they say that, as an alternative to roof ladders, timber battens fixed to rafters at not more than 450mm spacing may be reasonable. Reference is, of course, also made to fall-arrest and safety nets. With regard to installing the trusses and bracing, they call for a safe system of access and mention boarding out and say that safety nets can be used provided that there is a safe clearance distance and that safety harnesses can be utilised where there is suitable anchorage. However, we all know what happens in practice. As an ardent watcher of building construction and renovation programmes on TV, I am regularly amazed at some of the unsafe roofwork practices displayed by both amateurs and professionals but, fortunately, they all seem to 'get away with it' - unless they don't televise the failures!