Working Around Skylights and Roof Openings

Working Around Skylights and Roof Openings

A skylight looks like a solid part of the roof right up until someone puts weight on it. Roof openings - skylights, hatches, vents, light wells and open shafts - are one of the most common causes of fatal falls in construction, and almost all of them share the same three failures: the opening was not identified, it was not covered, or the cover was not secured.

Why Skylights Fail People

Glass and acrylic skylight domes age. They chalk, craze and lose strength under UV, and a dome that looks intact from the ground can be brittle enough that a grown adult goes straight through. Paint, dust and overspray hide the material and make it look like roofing.

The second problem is where they sit. A skylight is usually in the middle of a roof field, not at the edge, so it is exactly where a worker walks while focused on something else. There is no rail, no edge, and nothing to warn anyone.

Identifying and Marking Openings

Before anyone gets on a roof, walk it and mark every opening. Skylights, roof hatches, ventilation openings, open shafts and any hole over two feet across are the ones that kill people.

Marking matters as much as finding them. A bright boundary, cones or a physical barrier in front of the opening does the work that a verbal briefing cannot do on a busy day with crews from three trades on the same roof.

Covers, Guards and Personal Protection

A cover over a roof opening has to be able to take at least twice the weight of a person and their load without deflecting, and it has to be secured so a gust or a nudge cannot slide it off. An unsecured sheet of plywood over a skylight is not a cover, it is a trap.

Where covering is impractical, a guard rail around the opening is the primary protection - it stops the fall rather than catching it, which is what protection is supposed to do. Personal fall arrest is the third layer, for the work that has to happen at the opening itself.

Our UpGear by Werner 50 foot fall protection kit covers the harness, lanyard and anchor strap for roof work, and the guard rail assembly is the scaffold-side barrier that pairs with it.

Getting On and Off the Roof Safely

Most roof falls happen at the access point rather than out on the field. A ladder that stops at the eave, with nothing to hold above the landing, is where the transition has to be done blind.

Our Werner walk-through ladder extends above the landing so a worker steps through between the rails with a handhold above the edge, which is the difference between a controlled step and a swing.

For buildings where roof access happens daily, our specialty ladder range covers the fixed and pull-down options, and we will talk through which suits the building.

Roof Work Without the Gaps in the Plan

Openings are dangerous because they look like roof. The fix is procedural as much as it is equipment - mark them, cover them properly, guard what you cannot cover.

Tell us the building and the access and we will match the ladders and protection gear.

Everything ships from 5030 Dexham Rd. Ste. 103 in Rowlett, TX, and local crews can pick up the same day. Call 972-331-1090 and we will tell you what is on the floor right now.