Myth Busting: “Our Building Is Low Risk Because We Don’t Use Contractors on the Roof”

There is a sentence we hear more often than we should. “We don’t really send anyone up on the roof, so we don’t need height safety.” On the surface, that sounds reasonable. If nobody is up there, where is the risk? The problem is that the statement is almost never true, and the assumption behind it can put lives at serious risk.

Every commercial building with rooftop plant requires maintenance. Air conditioning units need servicing. Exhaust fans need cleaning and inspection. Gutters and drains block up with leaves and debris. Solar panels need washing and electrical checks. Satellite dishes, antennae, lightning protection systems, fire services equipment. All of it sits on the roof, and all of it requires a person to physically access the roof to maintain it. If your building has a single piece of mechanical or electrical equipment above ground level, someone is getting up there. The fact that you did not personally arrange the visit does not mean it is not happening.

This is where the stress builds. You might assume your air conditioning contractor handles their own safety. You might believe the body corporate or the property manager has it covered. But under the Work Health and Safety Act, a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking holds a primary duty of care that cannot be transferred. If you own or manage the building, you have a legal obligation to ensure that anyone who accesses your roof can do so without risk to their health and safety. That obligation does not vanish because you were not the one who booked the service call.

The deeper issue is fairness. Every technician who climbs onto your roof to service a unit or clear a drain is someone’s parent, partner, or friend. They deserve to work on a roof that has been assessed for fall hazards and fitted with the right protection. Telling yourself the building is low risk does not make the two-storey fall from an unprotected edge any less dangerous.

At Anchored Height Safety, we hear this myth on nearly every initial site visit. Building owners and managers are often surprised to learn how many contractors have been accessing their roof without any form of fall protection. We do not say this to make anyone feel bad. We say it because once you know, you can fix it, and fixing it is more straightforward than most people expect.

We start with a full rooftop assessment. We walk your roof with you or your facilities manager and identify every piece of plant that requires periodic access, every access path a contractor would use, and every fall hazard along the way, including unprotected edges, fragile roof sheeting, skylights, and changes in level. From that assessment, we design a height safety system tailored to your building. That might include permanent anchor points near rooftop equipment, a horizontal static line along a long access path, a fixed roof ladder with a fall-arrest rail, or edge protection around high-traffic maintenance zones. Every component is designed and installed to AS/NZS 1891 and AS 1657.

Once installed, we provide comprehensive documentation that details every anchor point and safety device on the roof, its location, its load rating, and its last inspection date. When your air conditioning contractor or electrician arrives for a service call, they know exactly what height safety equipment is available, where it is, and how to use it. They clip on, complete their work, and leave safely. We also schedule annual recertification inspections so your system stays compliant year after year.

When your height safety is sorted, your building runs the way it should. Maintenance happens on schedule because contractors can access the roof safely and confidently. Your compliance documentation is current and complete. If WorkSafe ever asks about your rooftop access arrangements, you have a clear, auditable answer. Your insurance position is protected. And every tradesperson who steps onto your roof goes home at the end of the day.

When height safety is ignored, the risks compound quietly. A technician accesses your roof using an unsecured ladder, steps across fragile sheeting nobody identified, and works near an unprotected edge with no harness and no anchor point. It might go fine ninety-nine times. On the hundredth visit, it does not. A fall from even a single-storey commercial rooftop can cause life-changing injuries or death. The resulting WorkSafe investigation will ask what systems were in place, what risk assessments were completed, and what the building owner did to meet their duty of care. If the answer is “we didn’t think anyone went on the roof,” that is not a defence.

Stop guessing and find out what is actually happening on your roof. Call Anchored Height Safety on 03 9555 3586, email sales@anchored.com.au, or visit anchored.com.au to arrange a rooftop height safety assessment. If someone is getting on your roof, they deserve to be safe while they are up there.