Pursuant to applicable law, the manager or owner of a residential, industrial or corporate building is obliged to ensure the safety of persons staying inside the facility as well as passers-by. In winter, you should ensure that roofs are cleared of snow regularly and safely. Excessive snow on the roof may lead to a construction disaster, and hanging icicles that form on the gutters and in the gutter belt may pose a threat to passers-by. The building manager should plan roof snow removal and icicle removal activities to take into account the strength of the roof structure and prevent it from being damaged, and, above all, ensure the safety of employees.

Clearing snow from roofs, especially steep ones, is always a constant risk of slipping and falling. Therefore, this type of work should be organized with extreme caution, and the requirements towards employees must be particularly high. Clearing snow from roofs involves work at heights, so in order to reduce the risk of accidents to a minimum, only people should be allowed to perform this type of work:

• with current medical examinations for working at heights,
• after completing general occupational health and safety training, as well as training in fall protection.

In turn, the person responsible for snow removal work should:

• exercise direct supervision over employees and prepare a specific division of tasks for them,
• equip employees with appropriate personal protective equipment,
• develop a rescue and evacuation plan.

When clearing snow from roofs, it is good practice to use collective protective equipment, e.g. balustrades, protective nets or skylight gratings. This increases the safety of people working there. In a situation where such protections are not in place, employees must be equipped with personal protective equipment and trained in how to use them. Heavy frost, low temperature and strong wind are factors that adversely affect the employee’s well-being and also cause the risk of frostbite.

People working in such conditions should have:

• appropriate protective clothing ensuring thermal comfort and protection against excessive sweating and moisture,
• footwear with non-slip soles (due to the risk of frostbite to the toes, do not use footwear with metal toes!),
• gloves (you should always wear them because they protect your hands from cold and moisture),
• a protective helmet (it is necessary because it protects the head against injuries. When it is cold, wear a balaclava under the helmet).

The employer should provide a room where the employee can eat, warm up and rest.

If the building has not undergone periodic technical inspection and the technical condition of the roof is questionable, employees must not be allowed to work – this may pose a threat to their life and health. The owner of the facility should determine, in consultation with an authorized constructor, how to remove snow from the roof so as not to damage the building structure. You should always make sure what the permissible load on the roof is and whether snow removal will not damage its covering.

When working on the roof, secure the area so that there is no threat to people passing by the building. The fenced area should cover an area with a width of 1/10 of the height of the building, but not less than 6 meters. Other measures should also be taken to ensure the safety of people in the vicinity of the snow-clearing facility, by:

• fencing the sidewalk adjacent to the building,
• blocking the crossing on one side of the street,
• directing pedestrian and car traffic by a person at the bottom,
• if the sidewalk or road is blocked, e.g. by parked cars, you must notify the City Hall or the City Guard as soon as possible.

Source: National Labor Inspectorate

Source:https://www.seka.pl/bezpieczne-odsniezanie-dachow/

Supported by Norway through Norway Grants 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Social Dialogue – Decent Work”.