Redefining Rooftop Safety: Is Compliance Enough?

Nowadays when considering safety within construction projects contractors’ compliance with safety regulations is essential, but with the complexity of projects increasing year over year it begs the question – Is compliance enough? Is safety guaranteed when complying with safety regulations? Some would argue that compliance really is the baseline requirement, however does a baseline requirement guarantee the safety of workers, operators and the general public?

Within many of the safety requirements that exist today it is noted that these regulations are essentially only guidelines, and it is up to every organization to interpret these in order to create a safe working environment. This again begs the question if these guidelines are up for interpretation, do they guarantee safety? The simple answer is no, they don’t. Furthering this, does compliance with the regulations guarantee protection from legal action, fines, etc. if there is an accident? The answer once again is no, it doesn’t – see more here.

With the Canadian construction industry evolving as it is, regulations are also evolving (especially from province to province). This leads to a lot of confusion and creates a challenge when creating a safe work environment as there is a lack of consistency from province to province. This inconsistency once again begs the question – What is truly safe? If two provinces have different definitions of safety within their regulations, how can they both be defined as safe?

On top of this, within some regulations nowadays there are definitions for a safe fall. How can any fall be defined as safe – surely if safety is being considered seriously, falls should be mitigated at any cost, especially falls from height. We understand that having said this it is impossible to mitigate human error in the situation, but we believe that the outcome of any error or accident should be minimized at all costs.

For more information on this critical topic view Skyline’s Session from PM Springfest 2024 here: https://streamly.video/video/rooftop-safety-for-property-managers-reviewing-rooftop-fall-hazards-skyline-group