Risk assessment
Roofing risk assessments for tiles, flat roofs, and gutters
Most serious roofing harm is a fall from the edge, through a fragile rooflight, or from a ladder used as a place of work. The second pattern is materials dropped onto people below. A RAMS that only says “take care at height” does not say how this roof will be reached.
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require work at height to be avoided where it can be, and otherwise done from a safe place with measures to stop a fall or reduce the distance. Collective protection, such as a scaffold with edge protection, comes before a harness. Asbestos cement sheets are a different hazard from a fall, and they are cited under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
No law requires a document called a RAMS. The duty is to assess risk under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3, and to plan the work safely.
What to decide before the job
- How people get on the roof, and what stops them or their materials going over the edge.
- Fragile rooflights and deck, marked before anyone steps across.
- An exclusion zone below, not a hope that nobody walks past.
- Whether the covering might be asbestos cement, and what happens if it is.
Every hazard below is from the RAMSPack library and is marked draft – awaiting competent review. Use it as a starting list, then change it for the site. It is not HSE approved.
Worked example: Pitched roof tile replacement
Replace slipped, broken, or missing tiles or slates on a pitched roof, including localised underlay and batten repairs where the covering is already open.
Order of work
- Survey from a safe place. Note fragile areas, rooflights, overhead lines, and weather.
- Set exclusion zones below. Agree scaffold or roof-ladder access. Do not walk the roof if a safe system has not been set up.
- Get materials up by hoist or hand line. Do not carry a stack of tiles up a ladder.
- Remove broken coverings, repair local underlay or battens only as far as this scope, and set new tiles or slates to match the bond and fixing specification.
- Check the immediate area for further loose coverings that would make the repair pointless, and tell the client. Do not expand onto fragile coverings.
- Clear the roof and gutters of debris. Remove waste from the site.
Fall from the roof edge, through a fragile rooflight, or from a ladder
Who might be harmed: Operatives and people below
Before controls: 20 High. After controls: 10 Medium. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Follow the hierarchy in the Work at Height Regulations 2005: avoid the work at height if a repair from a safe platform is reasonably practicable, otherwise prevent a fall, otherwise mitigate it.
- Provide edge protection or a properly designed scaffold. A roof ladder is secured over the ridge and used with edge protection or another justified system.
- Cover or barrier fragile rooflights. Do not step on them.
- Stop in high wind, ice, or heavy rain. Wet moss is not a walking surface.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Work at Height Regulations 2005; Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992; Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Tiles, tools, or debris falling onto people below
Who might be harmed: Other workers, occupiers and the public
Before controls: 16 High. After controls: 8 Medium. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Exclude the drop zone with barriers. Close a public footpath only with the right permission; otherwise time the work and use a banksman.
- Lower materials. Do not throw tiles off the roof.
- Wear head protection, including anyone who has to enter the drop zone.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Work at Height Regulations 2005; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Manual handling of tiles and mortar at height
Who might be harmed: Operatives
Before controls: 12 Medium. After controls: 4 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Break loads into small bundles. Use a hoist where the quantity justifies it.
- Keep tiles in a stable stack on a boarded platform, not on a slope.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Work at Height Regulations 2005; Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992; Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Asbestos cement sheets or slates mistaken for ordinary covering
Who might be harmed: Operatives doing the work, other workers, occupiers and visitors
Before controls: 10 Medium. After controls: 5 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- If the covering may be asbestos cement, stop and treat it under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Do not cut or break it.
- This task is for tile or slate replacement, not asbestos removal.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981; Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
Start this pitched roof tile replacement RAMS
Other roofer tasks in the library
Flat roof repair
Repair a localised defect in a domestic or small commercial flat roof covering, including drying the area and reinstating the membrane system specified for that roof.
- Fall from an unprotected flat-roof edge or through a fragile deck or rooflight. Install edge protection before work starts if anyone can approach within 2 metres of an open edge, unless another measure prevents the fall.
- Fire and inhalation from solvent primers and adhesives. No smoking or ignition sources near open tins.
- Fire in the roof build-up if a flame or hot air is used. Do not introduce a naked flame on this repair unless a separate hot-work permit and fire watch are in place. The default method is the one the manufacturer allows without a flame.
- Manual handling of rolls and bitumen tubs. Use two people or mechanical aid for heavy rolls.
Gutter and downpipe replacement
Replace defective eaves gutters and downpipes on a low-rise building, working from a scaffold or a podium rather than from the gutter.
- Fall from a ladder used as a place of work along the eaves. Use a scaffold or podium so both hands are free and the operative is prevented from falling.
- Falling gutter sections and tools. Barrier the area below. Pass sections up and down; do not drop them.
- Cuts from metal gutter edges and offcuts. Wear gloves. Deburr cut ends. Collect offcuts rather than leaving them in the grass or a path.
- Contact with overhead electric lines while handling long gutter lengths. Look up before unloading long lengths. Keep metal gutters and ladders clear of overhead lines.