New rope access and fall arrest guide published

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has published a new guide for fall arrest and industrial rope access anchorages.

Industrial rope access and fall arrest systems are used by window cleaners on both residential and commercial high-rise buildings across Queensland. Most anchorages use insert type anchor bolts with variation in the quality of anchorages used. However, there has been significant confusion from building body corporates as to what meets a reasonable level of safety.

Falls are a major cause of death and serious injury in Australian workplaces and fall hazards are found in many workplaces where work is carried out at height. The new guide also shows how building design should consider how fall hazards can be eliminated.

The guide includes reference to Australia and New Zealand Standards and reviews various types of post-installed anchors (i.e. masonry anchors) including torque-controlled, chemical, screw bolt, undercut, and deformation-controlled anchors. It has information on the safe use of post-installed anchors for fall arrest and industrial rope access attachment points used for building maintenance, including both single anchor points and multi-fixing anchor points.

More information

View the Anchors for building maintenance guide (PDF, 0.58 MB).