Springhallow School

Industry

Education,

Renewables

Expertises

Working at Height

Safety Circle steps used in this project

Installation Solutions

The client

Springhallow School is an Ealing Local Authority School for pupils ages between 4-16 years and specialises in Autism including Asperger's syndrome. As part of a scheme, the school has been demolished and redeveloped so a new fall protection strategy was required.

The building

Springhallow School is a special school for pupils aged 4-16 years old, with Autism, ASD and Asperger's syndrome, as well as a wide range of learning abilities and opened in September 2015.

The scheme in place for the redevelopment of the school involves the complete demolition of the existing school building and the construction of a brand new two-storey steel frame school building for 120 Pupils. The new build ensures that all needs of the pupils are met and that the environment created helps each pupil in their contribution to home, school and community life.

The requirement

Springhallow School required the roof to be safe for access to all areas to complete maintenance and repair work. As the new building has more equipment on the roof which requires maintenance, this means that the area at height be used more by operatives. As per the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (WAHR) this states that competent and trained workers must use suitable fall protection equipment.

The school now boasts a large flat membrane roof area which acquired many photovoltaic panels and a large variety of plant and equipment. With access directly onto the roof area via a hatch and many unprotected edges that require appropriate fall protection measures, Springhallow School wanted to ensure that the roof area was safe for workers.

The solution

Working closely with the team at Topek, Eurosafe derived a safe method of access around the whole roof area, in the form of collective protection. With it being such a busy roof area, collective protection was the most effective solution in this situation.

To provide safe access to the whole roof area in an effective and aesthetically pleasing manner, the team at Eurosafe have successfully installed approximately 160 linear metres of Latchways Freestanding VersiRail.

VersiRail is a non-penetrative guardrail system offering collective fall protection for flat surfaces up to a 10° slope. The installation fully complies with the work at height regulations, British Standards and manufactures recommendations.

Learn more about roof handrail, guardrail, balustrade & barrier inspection