While there are many obvious areas where fall protection is needed— rooftops, mezzanines—there are places where people work at height that don’t always get enough attention.

A good example is the “office within an office,” a modular building inside a manufacturing plant or other facility. These structures offer quick access and integration to the main floor. They can be a manager’s office, conference room, laboratory, engineering department, break room, powder coating line, or much more.

Although their roofs require routine cleaning, maintenance, and possibly repairs, how often do these structures have a perimeter railing system to protect the worker? Can the roof support an anchorage point that provides proper clearance in case of a fall?

A typical modular building is only about 2-1/2 meters tall. Just grab a ladder and hop on the roof. What could go wrong?

A misstep. Tripping over tools. A sneeze in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Despite the regulations, warnings, safety equipment expenditures, and training, falls from height remain a leading cause of workplace injury and death. A person can fall 2 meters in less than a second, enough to cause serious harm to an unprotected worker.

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