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By Paul Szymczak
22-Jun-09 16:01

Safety First
By Paul Szymczak
22-Jun-09 15:38

 

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Broadview, IL 60155

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Safety First

By Paul Szymczak

When you think of skylights in commercial facilities, you might not immediately recognize the serious safety hazard they can present. My wake-up call came many years ago when I was a maintenance sales rep. I was atop a multi-story commercial office building inspecting rooftop HVAC units with a service technician. The nearly foot-deep snow on the roof made the flat skylights completely imperceptible. Because the service technician knew the location of the skylights from earlier visits, he instructed me where I shouldn’t be walking.

Since that day, I have become acutely aware of skylight safety – both for the service people with whom I work and for myself. I have read numerous accounts of death and severe injury from people falling through skylights. Some of the victims are trades people, some are facility maintenance personnel, some are just kids who can gain access to a roof.

OSHA has standards particular to skylights which can be found at www.osha.gov:

  • 1910.23(a)(4) Every skylight floor opening and hole shall be guarded by a standard skylight screen or a fixed standard railing on all exposed sides.
  • 1910.23(e)(8) Skylight screens shall be of such construction and mounting that they are capable of withstanding a load of at least 200 pounds applied perpendicularly at any one area on the screen. They shall also be of such construction and mounting that under ordinary loads or impacts, they will not deflect downward sufficiently to break the glass below them. The construction shall be of grillwork with openings not more than 4 inches long or of slatwork with openings not more than 2 inches wide with length unrestricted.

Many skylights are made from some type of plastic. In time, these skylights can be significantly weakened by the sun’s UV rays and by weather extremes. However, if they aren’t leaking or terribly dirty, skylights often receive little attention or inspection.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has an alert that you can read at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2004-156/pdfs/2004-156.pdf Beyond the OSHA requirements, this alert contains some solid suggestions for building owners and operators to help prevent skylight accidents:

  • Provide workers with printed documents that show the exact location of all skylights.
  • Place locks on doors and hatches leading to roofs and areas with skylights.
  • Post warning signs in English and Spanish (and any other language appropriate for your workers) on skylights and at entries to areas with skylights. If workers cannot read, warn them verbally in their language. (Refer to ANSI standards Z535.4 and Z535.2 [ANSI 2002b] and OSHA standards 29 CFR 1910.145 and 1926.200 for guidance on requirements for safety signs and labels.)
  • Install permanent anchors to which Personal Fall Arrest Systems (PFAS) can be attached, and make workers aware of their locations.
  • If your building has a pitched roof that was installed over an original flat roof, there may be skylights in what is now your attic. These can be equally dangerous.