Only certain glass types are suitable for overhead glazing. Please see Glass Types under the Design Considerations page for further information.
The Health and Safety at Work Act and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1995, both require that worker safety should be addressed within the design of a building. This applies during the construction of the building and, once built, its maintenance, repair and demolition.
It is the responsibility of the designer of the building to assess what the risks are. These may be categorised as follows:
Class 0 Roofs design for unrestricted access including members of the public
Class 1 Roofs which may need to be walked on from time to time for cleaning or maintenance issues and must therefore support the weight of both people and their equipment.
Class 2 Roofs where people are not intended to walk on the glass, but are required to be non-fragile in case of falling onto the glass whilst walking adjacent or from crawling boards or other access equipment.
Class 3 Roofs that are fragile where there is no risk of falling onto the glass or un-authorised access. A guard rail preventing this may suffice in most circumstances to protect anybody walking walking adjacent to the rooflight during cleaning/maintenance.
The HSG33 Health and Safety in Roof Work booklet specifically states that:
Where rooflights are required, it is obligatory for designers to consider –
- Specifying rooflights that are non-fragile
- Fitting rooflights designed to project above the plane of the roof and which cannot be walked on (these reduce the risk but they should still be capable of withstanding a person falling onto them)
Further advice can be gained from our Technical Department via info@lonsdalemetal.co.uk or Tel 020 4600 3673