hickeys45 wrote:

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Mike,

The following points were highlighted on the Roof Access course I did lately. This course was organized by my local council. I have just recently managed to get some work from them. The Council organized this course for all of its contractors working on roofs, such as carpenters, brickies, plasterers etc.

1) If someone working on a roof has an accident, collapses or whatever and is left dangling off of the roof on a harness you have less than 15 minutes to get him down. The reason is that the blood flow will be restricted in the legs by the harness. The heart pumps the blood to the legs, and the movement of the leg muscles pump it back to the heart. If the person dangling on the harness isn't moving the blood gathers in the legs and this prevents the blood from flowing back. This in turn leads to the brain becoming starved of oxygen. A person can go into a coma and die within 15 mins.
2) If you do get the person down after a few minutes, even though they may feel fine they should be made to sit down with their backs to a wall with their knees bent up. This prevents blood laden with toxins surging back up from the legs causing damage to kidneys etc. This surge of blood can also cause a fatal heart attack. An ambulance (paramedics) should be called prior to starting any rescue.

There are probably sites on the net with a lot more information on this. This is the main reason I intend to incorporate the rescue system into our method of roof cleaning.

I hope this will lead to a discussion on the proper use of harnesses and other safety gear if it hasn't been discussed already.

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Thanks for the info and even though there's plenty of info on this board discussing safety, IMO there can never be too much. I'd never have an employee or even myself go on a roof without anybody present. We don't even climb ladders unless somebody else is there.

When I'm on a roof, if my helper isn't paying close attention, or heaven forbid I catch him texting, he definitely feels my wrath.