Gutter risk is more than just being close to the edge
Gutter cleaning is an essential part of building maintenance. While a simple task, it’s not just where it’s performed – the edge of your roof – that poses potential risk. How your gutters are accessed could be creating hazards or your equipment may not be suitable, further increasing risk.
Hard to reach gutters also make routine cleaning more difficult. This could result in overflow not only causing gutter damage but potential internal water damage, increasing risk to your building as well as items within (such as technology or stock). After 45 years in the industry, we’ve seen it all.
Our height safety specialists can review your gutter access and associated height safety systems and equipment, providing practical advice to reduce and better manage gutter access risk.
Is your height safety system used for gutter access increasing risk?
While anchor points and platform ladders can both be used for gutter maintenance, these height safety systems require very different levels of experience and training. For example, if you manage maintenance internally, does Kevin the handy-man have the experience and training to use an anchor point system safely?
Understanding who will be performing gutter maintenance can greatly reduce the level of risk. As well as providing compliance advice, we can design a height safety system that’s right for your application and improve your level of safety and practicality.
Knowing what equipment you need – and how it should be used – can be a challenge, especially if you don’t use it yourself or the system isn’t used often. Our height safety experts can assess your current equipment and provide recommendations on what you need, how to reduce your level of risk, and improve compliance and safety.
Roof or ground access: what’s better for gutter cleaning?
As gutters are on the roof it’s often thought a height safety system such as an anchor point is most efficient. However, a ground height safety system – such as a platform ladder – not only greatly reduces risk but can be more cost effective, as hiring ground safety equipment can be cheaper than an anchor point’s on-going maintenance.
Our risk assessment and audit services can help you identify potential risks and provide expert recommendations for routine tasks. Helping you uncover ways to reduce maintenance costs and improve the safety of your building.
Our risk assessment approach
We’re here to help you better identify, manage and mitigate risk for your building. Performed by independent, risk management specialists, our risk assessments and audits follow a comprehensive four-step process. Developed in line with the latest Australian standards and industry regulations, our risk assessments will identify potential (and immediate) risks and recommend practical steps to decrease risk and improve compliance. The report also includes budget estimates, scopes of work and layout plans to best implement our recommendations to help you with internal discussions.
As well as assessing risks against the hierarchy of controls, we’ll assess each access point, associated systems and equipment against your internal risk matrix. When booking your gutter access risk assessment, we recommend you book for full-site assessment and audit. This aligns preventative maintenance across your site, simplifying service schedules and decreasing maintenance costs. It also provides you with a full view of building risk, supporting your risk mitigation discussions.
Identify areas and tasks
Identify hazards and risks
Verify compliance
Reporting & Recommendations
Our 4-step approach
We use the same certified, four-step process for all our risk assessments and audit services. Whether a risk assessment for facade access or cooling tower maintenance, you can be confident your risk assessment will be provided to the highest standard by independent experts.
1. Identify areas and tasks
We start by identifying each task that requires access to gutters, defining how, when and where each is performed. This approach helps us identify all and any height safety systems and equipment (plus any required documentation or training) associated with gutter cleaning and maintenance.
2. Identify hazards and risks
We assess all height safety systems and equipment identified in step 1 for immediate and potential hazards, defining their level of associated risk. Our certified risk experts not only complete this assessment against the hierarchy of controls but your internal risk matrix.
3. Verify compliance
This step is all about assessing if your height safety systems and equipment are compliant with Australian standards and industry regulations. All our risk experts are trained and certified in the latest compliance requirements for both height safety systems and associated equipment. Being NATA certified, we are also able to perform any on-site testing that may be required.
4. Reporting & Recommendations
We take all our risk assessment findings and develop a full risk assessment report with expert recommendations to decrease and better manage risk. This comprehensive report will provide risk assessments for all reviewed systems and equipment as well as an action plan to ensure compliance and improve height safety and fall prevention risk.
To help with internal conversations, our reports automatically include budget estimates, a scope of work and layout plans to best implement our recommendations. These can then be added into a business case, funding proposal or provided to construction groups as part of a tender process.
Risk assessment services by maintenance task
Access to the roof
From ladders to walkways, we’ll assess all ways your workers access your roof.
Access to serviceable plant and equipment
Ensuring safe access to plant equipment and HVAC.
Access to solar panel cleaning
Solar panels take up so much space. But can they be safely accessed?
Access to Facade
Assessing all the ways your facade is used for building tasks and maintenance.
Cooling Tower Maintenance
Are you providing easy and safe access to your cooling towers?
Fragile and Brittle surfaces
How your workers safely interact with surfaces such as skylights or laserlite.
Other areas
Need another area assessed? Our team can provide expert recommendations.
Do you know your current level of risk?
Working at heights can be risky business, not only to workers and contractors but also your business. Take our online height safety tool to assess potential risk to your business.
Use Our Risk Meter
Workplace Access and Safety:
Your height safety and fall prevention experts
Independent height safety experts
- Independent height safety experts
- 45 years’ industry experience
- National certified specialists, inspectors and engineers
- Height safety advice, risk assessments and consulting
Combining years of practical experience and industry expertise, you can be confident in the compliance and safety of your system.
From site assessments and system design to testing, inspections and certifications, we’re here to provide expert advice to keep your business protected and workplace safe.
Decrease your level of risk
Expert tips, tricks and advice from our height safety experts, straight to you.
