Access to a roof is becoming more frequent nowadays. It could be for roof inspections, building repairs, or installing and maintaining solar panels. This places more pressure on building owners, FMs and those responsible for the safety of people within a building or facility to ensure work can be carried out safely. But simply installing a fall protection lifeline system isn’t enough; you must ensure the system is safe and compliant. That means regularly testing your lifeline system.
A lifeline system is designed to prevent a fall or safely arrest one if it happens. Like any safety equipment, it can deteriorate over time through weather exposure, structural movement, corrosion and general wear. Without regular inspection, faults can develop that quietly compromise the system’s performance.
What is a lifeline system?
A lifeline system is an engineered fall protection solution that provides safe access for workers at height. It usually consists of anchor points, horizontal lifelines, rails, fixings, and shock or energy absorbers, working together with personal protective equipment to reduce the risk of a fall.
Depending on the application, lifeline systems can function as:
- Fall restraint to prevent a worker from reaching a fall hazard
- Fall arrest, which safely stops a fall that’s already happened
Because these systems are critical in protecting people working at height, you have a legal duty to ensure your lifeline system is properly maintained and regularly inspected by a competent person.
Why is lifeline system testing so important?
A system that looks OK on the surface can still have hidden issues that seriously affect its performance in an emergency.
Wind, temperature fluctuations, exposure to UV rays or water, and corrosion all take their toll over time and affect a system’s performance. So too can structural alterations, accidental damage, unauthorised modifications or excessive loading.
Regular testing and inspections will uncover these problems before they become a hazard.
If you fail to have your system inspected regularly, you could be held liable if an incident occurs. And that can mean invalidated insurance, potential enforcement action, and a real risk of injury.
What are the legal requirements for lifeline testing?
HSE guidance and the Work at Height Regulations, employers must take suitable, sufficient measures to protect workers from falls.
So to comply with these requirements, you must ensure your lifeline system is correctly installed, regularly inspected, and maintained according to the manufacturer’s guidance and current British Standards, including BS EN 795:2012 and BS 7883.
How often should a lifeline be inspected?
Most systems will require annual inspections, but if your property is in an exposed area like the coast or the lifeline is used frequently, more frequent inspections will be required. And if a fall happens, you need to remove the system from service immediately.
Responsibility for ensuring this is with building owners, facilities managers, employers and estate managers.
What happens during professional testing?
Lifelines feature moving components, so more can go wrong with these systems than with something like a static guardrail.
Not all defects are obvious, which is why you need a professional and competent company to test and inspect your system. This will include:
- A visual inspection where the engineer will check anchor points, cable fixings, brackets, and support structure for signs of corrosion, cracks or structural movement.
- Load testing where loads are applied to check that the anchor points and fixings can withstand the force of a real fall.
- Tension tests to ensure the system’s cable is tensioned correctly in line with the manufacturer’s specification and provides users with smooth movement when attached.
- Compatibility inspections to verify the harnesses, lanyards, and travellers are compatible with the system and in good condition.
Once completed, you should be given a thorough report, confirming compliance or flagging up any problems. The system will be tagged with the date of the inspection, whether it passed or failed, and when the next inspection is due. All this information is important for insurance, audits and regulatory checks.
It’s also important to remember that pre-use checks must be carried out on PPE and the system in general before each use.
How we can help you
A lifeline system is an essential piece of fall protection, but only if it’s in good working order. And the only way to ensure that is through regular, professional inspection and testing.
If you need annual testing, re-certification, load testing or ongoing compliance support, get in touch. We’ll help keep your systems compliant and people working on your roof protected.
