The Client
Lewisham Homes is a not-for-profit organisation designed to improve housing in the London borough of Lewisham, through managing homes on behalf of the council and maintaining the new homes they build, in addition to continuous investment in the local community.
Since Lewisham Homes have been working closely with United Living and the Tenants’ and Residents’ Associations; United Living have been redeveloping the Hatfield and Gerrard buildings since 2017 to ensure the residents are living in buildings with non-combustible cladding, in addition to improving the local community through the renovation of community gardens and refurbishment of a local Skills Centre and Cyber Centre.
Finally, Lewisham Homes have launched new safety measures across the organisation to ensure the safety of all residents and staff; including the installation of new work at height systems to ensure the safety of maintenance staff on the roof spaces of the three buildings.
The Brief
Heightsafe were contacted by United Living on behalf of Lewisham Homes to decommission and replace old roof access equipment and install a complete package of new systems to improve the overall safety on the roof spaces to ensure maintenance staff are safe and secure when carrying out their duties.
Each of the three buildings in the Hatfield and Gerrard redevelopment would benefit from improved roof access equipment including edge protection, access ladders, step up and step over units, and safety line systems.
The Solution
Our team conducted an initial survey of the buildings to determine which systems would best suit the roof space and provide the safest means of access to the building’s maintenance personnel and anyone else that would require access to the roof space.
Our team installed freestanding weighted guardrail to the perimeter of the three buildings roof edge, providing a complete edge protection solution. Access to the higher roof level above the plant rooms was required and so access ladders were used in conjunction with a safety line system to guarantee workers were safe in the event of a fall from height.
Step up and step over units were also used across the three roofs to allow safe access above and around all areas of the roof spaces.
Finally, the old platform on the Gerrard building was removed and replaced with a bespoke, freestanding, aluminium stair and platform unit to provide safe access from the interior of the building to the roof space.
The Outcome
The new systems will form a part of Lewisham Homes new safety measures for the Hatfield and Gerrard redevelopment in the wake of the Grenfell disaster in 2017. After the combustible cladding on the buildings was removed, all other safety measures were reviewed and improved, with the roof spaces being no different.
Heightsafe were happy to provide a complete access solution, with multiple systems working together to form safe roof spaces across the three buildings for United Living on behalf of Lewisham Homes.
Complete Roof Access Systems from Heightsafe
Our team are always on hand to discuss any project that may require multiple systems or that has old systems that need replacing. Our team will help with any project, contact us today to talk to one of our installation department and arrange a survey.
Last Updated: 9th December 2021
