LAWS AND REGULATIONS FOR FALL SAFETY
The laws and regulations stipulate that employers and property owners, such as owners’ associations, are responsible and therefore obliged to provide the opportunity and means to perform work at height safely. This is also stated in Article 3 of the Occupational Health and Safety Decree. The preferred option here is collective protection. Individual fall protection may also be chosen under strict conditions.

PREVENT Fall Hazards
While working, falls must be prevented. Therefore, all work at heights of 2.5 meters or more must be performed with fall protection devices. In certain cases, protection is also required at lower heights (Occupational Health and Safety Decree 3.16). A proper level of protection is achieved if the danger of falling is controlled in all situations and during any stay on the roof. Where this is not possible, this is substantiated in an RI&E and/or a H&S plan.

The use of individual fall protection is permitted in case the work falls under the following headings :

Section 1
– Roof inspections and roof surveys.
– Periodic cleaning maintenance.
– Repairs, other than general replacement of roofing layers.
– Installation of collective anti-falling devices.

Section 2
All work (maximum working height 10 meters), of any kind, relating to:
– Storage rooms, garages, awnings, dormers and other attachments.
– Other objects, regardless of their purpose, provided the work area is no more than 20 m2.

If the work on the objects listed in this section involves the entire roof area, a repetitive number of no more than ten such objects may occur per project. If there are more than ten objects on which work is performed simultaneously or immediately adjacent to each other, collective provisions apply unless an RI&E and/or H&S plan indicates otherwise.

Section 3
All work at a maximum height of 10 meters, except work involving the entire roof surface. If, above a working height of 10 meters, no collective protection against the risk of falling is provided, this shall be substantiated in an RI&E and/or an H&S plan. The above measures to be chosen in different situations are shown in the following flow chart.

ANNUAL MEASUREMENT PPE
All personal protective equipment (PPE) must be inspected and inspected annually.
This does not relieve users of their own responsibility to check their materials before use. Personal protective equipment should be used individually, unless circumstances permit that the equipment can also be used by more than one person and does not reduce safety.

QUESTIONS ?
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