Roof Hatch Fall Protection Case Study, Partnering with T-Mobile

T-Mobile is a worldwide cellular provider with a large call center in Rochester, NY. Which, fun fact, is where our office is located.

On top of their facility, they have multiple HVAC units and rooftop units (RTU's) that they access every month or so. This is just for routine maintenance of units, changing out filters, or other simple projects. 

While the maintenance team isn’t up on the roof frequently, they do need to access the roof each time they go up. The maintenance crew accesses this roof through a roof hatch, which is standard, but therein lies the hazard.

In this article, we’ll discuss the OSHA requirements for roof hatches, the best solution available, and how you can easily install roof hatch guardrail.

OSHA Requirements for Roof Hatches

OSHA says in 1910.28(b)(3)(iv) that any opening on a rooftop including hatches, ladderways, and holes, must have fall protection in the form of a guardrail.

Additionally, at the entrance to the hatch, a self-closing safety gate or an offset guardrail must be used.

For additional information of accessing your roof safely through roof hatches, check out our video below.

After learning that this roof hatch must have fall protection around it, T-Mobile started searching online for a solution. This is when they came across Simplified Safety and were connected with our salesperson, Katie Haines. 

Roof Hatch Fall Protection Solution

T-Mobile and Katie discussed the situation and worked together to come up with a simple and effective solution for their roof hatch. 

Katie walked them through our Kee Dome roof hatch products. This solution is a non-penetrating guardrail system that rests on the rooftop around the roof hatch via a weighted and modular system.

This meant they didn’t have to mount to the rooftop or the hatch, and it could easily be customized by the dimensions of the roof hatch.

Our customer was overjoyed to learn of such a simple solution that could perfectly fit their hatch and wouldn’t require a lot of work. 

Installing Roof Hatch Fall Protection

Then it came time to install the roof hatch guardrail. This system is easily installed with no specialized labor. You can easily get by with a simple hex key or a hex key attachment for a drill or Allen wrench.

Installation was a breeze, and not just because it was super windy that day. Our team were able to get this guardrail installed in under 2 hours.

In Review

Roof hatches are common rooftop hazards that are often overlooked. Our customer thankfully recognized this concern and acted quickly to solve it.  

If you’re in need of safe rooftop access, please contact our fall protection specialists. We can walk through your needs and even perform a free remote fall hazard survey of your building to address any and all concerns!