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<\/p>\nSafe Work Australia are a goverment-associated health and safety body.\u00a0 In January 2016, they issued a revised version of their working at height guidance.\u00a0 In this document, work around solar panels is specifically mentioned twice.<\/p>\n
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The document flags several working at height issues.\u00a0 ALL listed pertain to solar panel cleaning.\u00a0 They are:<\/p>\n
Work on roofs involving solar that is considered ‘high risk’ involves:<\/p>\n
The wording in the document around working at height risk is very straightforward.\u00a0 “You must eliminate or minimise risks to health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable, even if the roof work only takes a few minutes.<\/strong>”<\/p>\n The document mentions solar panels for the second time in the section about ‘Falls<\/em>‘:\u00a0 “Workers such as electricians, plumbers….installers of solar panels…can trip and fall on roofs, through roofs and openings or while accessing or exiting roof areas.”<\/p>\n Providing guidance on risk of fall management, Safe Work Australia write:\u00a0 “The risk of falls must be managed using the most effective control measures that are reasonably practicable, in accordance with the hierarchy of controls.”<\/p>\n The first form of allowable safe system of work, in other words, the first and preferable choices of safe access, are fall prevention devices<\/strong>.\u00a0 These include scaffolding or elevating work platforms (EWPs).\u00a0 These are classified as reasonably practicable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n If fall prevention devices are not reasonably practicable, the next stage of risk reduction is work positioning systems<\/strong>.\u00a0 These include travel restraints that are designed to prevent workers reaching a roof edge.<\/p>\n If work positioning systems are not reasonably practicable, the third option is to use fall arrest systems<\/strong>.\u00a0 These would include harness and lanyard systems, anchor points and safety nets.<\/p>\n According to Safe Work Australia, minor roof tasks of less than 2 hours<\/strong> can be carried out on a single storey roof where the roof is flat or almost flat<\/strong> (this is classed as less than 10 degrees in other countries than Australia), non-slippery, workers remain more than a 2 metre distance from all exposed edges of a roof<\/strong>, then ladder access may be sufficient to minimise the risk of a fall.<\/p>\n How can a roof be assessed for it’s slope?\u00a0 ISCA recommend the use of free downloadable apps that use your phone as a spirit level, telling you the pitch of a roof.\u00a0 Even a single-storey roof of 11 degrees would not be classified as safe to work on without fall prevention devices or work positioning systems.<\/p>\n Bird proofing around a solar array is highly likely to take longer than two hours.\u00a0 In this case, fall prevention measures should be put in place to prevent a fall.<\/p>\n Any solar cleaning or maintenance work on any 2-storey property, or on any roof that is not almost flat, or that will expose a worker to work less than 2 metres from a roof edge or that takes longer than 2 hours, should not be carried out from ladders and without fall protection measures in place.<\/p>\n According to the safety document, anyone using a harness and lanyard exposes themselves to additional trip hazards.\u00a0 “Training should include how to rescue someone who falls whilst using a fall arrest system.”\u00a0 This may take the form of rope rescue training.<\/p>\n Under the section ‘Electricity<\/em>‘, the document states:\u00a0 “Working on roofs and near electricity is a major risk…Conductive material such as guttering can become live if they come close enough or in contact with faulty electrical wiring in the vicinity.”\u00a0 This is definitely the case with solar panel cleaning and maintenance.\u00a0 Solar cleaning and maintenance is classed by ISCA as a ‘high risk’ job.<\/p>\n Under the section ‘Manual Handling<\/em>‘, Safe Work Australia state “Injuries can occur\u00a0 when doing hazardous manual tasks such as manually lifting plant and equipment.”\u00a0 This is certainly true in the case of solar panel cleaning robots.\u00a0 As the use of solar panel cleaning robots increases, more consideration should be given to ensure safe lifting of robots is performed.\u00a0 Safe Work Australia recommend the use of EWPs for lifting items such as solar panel cleaning robots to roof level.\u00a0 Lifting robots to roofs via ladders should not be done due to overbalancing and having the risk of falling components onto people or property below.<\/p>\n There is a common misconception that solar panel cleaning and maintenance using ladders as the first choice of access is acceptable.\u00a0 As we can see from this Australian government-approved guidance, ladders should only be used as a last resort and the acceptable use of them is very limited.<\/p>\n Wherever possible, the first choice of accessing roofs in Australia for solar panel cleaning and maintenance is scaffolding or EWP.\u00a0 Work without fall protection should only be done on flat or nearly flat roofs.\u00a0 Cost of equipment hire is not mentioned once in the document, indicating that cost to clients is not a deciding or mitigating factor.\u00a0 The risk hierarchy is the deciding factor for safe roof access and the risk hierarchy, not cost<\/strong>, should always be foremost in the decision-making process.\u00a0 Below are some blanket rules for solar panel cleaning & maintenance in Australia:<\/p>\nWhat Is Acceptable Risk Of Fall Management For Solar Panel Cleaning & Maintenance?<\/h2>\n
How Do These Guidelines Apply Specifically To Solar Panel Cleaning & Maintenance In Australia?<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nOther Working At Height Considerations For Solar Panel Cleaning & Maintenance<\/h4>\n
Conclusion<\/h5>\n
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