Safe Working on Fragile Surface

 Beware of fragile surfaces when working at height

What is fragile surface
Fragile surfaces may look like any stable, solid floor. However, they cannot hold a person’s weight and may result in a fall when stepped on unknowingly.

Examples of fragile surfaces include:

• Unreinforced fibre-cement sheets and liner panels
• •Rooflights and glass
• •Corroded metal sheets
• Wood wool and chipboards

It is essential to identify fragile surfaces and protect your employees working near them to prevent falls from height.

Be prepared. Read the Code of Practice for Working Safely at Heights.

Take proper preventive measures such as having a fall prevention plan and permit-to-work system.

Alert potential hazards to your employees with warning signs.

Empower your employees with checklists on working at height or on roofs so that they know what to look out for.

Fragile surfaces are a serious work-at-height concern. Skylights, false flooring, ceiling panels, sheeted and tiled roofs are examples of fragile surfaces that may look like normal solid flooring to the untrained eye. However, they are not designed to support a person’s weight. A worker who steps on a fragile surface will face the risk of falling through it to the ground below.

The following are some control measures companies have put in place to protect workers from falling through a fragile surface. 

For more information:

WSH Legislation

WSH Act 2006

WSH (Risk Management) Regulations

WSH (Construction) Regulations 2007

WSH (Work at Heights) Regulations 2013

Singapore Standard

SS 528: Specification for Personal Fall-arrest Systems

   Part 1: Full-body harnesses

   Part 2: Lanyards and energy absorbers

   Part 3: Self-retracting lifelines

   Part 4: Vertical rails and vertical lifelines incorporating a sliding-type fall arrester

   Part 5: Connectors with self-closing and self-locking gates

   Part 6: System performance tests

SS 541: 2008 Restraint belts (Incorporating Amendment No. 1, April 2012)

SS 570: 2022 Personal protective equipment for protection against falls from a height

   Part 1: Single-point anchor devices

   Part 2: Flexible horizontal lifeline systems

SS 607: 2015 Specification for Design of Active Fall-protection Systems

Ministry of Manpower

WSH National Statistics Report 2023

Workplace Safety and Health Council

Code of Practice on WSH Risk Management

Code of Practice for Working Safely at Heights

WSH Guidelines on Working Safely on Roofs

WSH Guidelines on Anchorage, Lifelines and Temporary Edge Protection Systems

WSH Guidelines on Personal Protective Equipment for Work at Heights

Work at Heights Toolkit for Supervisors

Worker’s Safety Handbook for Work at Height

ABC Checklist for Working Safely at Heights

ABC Checklist for Working on Rooftops

6 Basic WSH Rules for Working on Roofs

6 Basic WSH Rules for Working at Heights

WSH Poster: Working on Fragile Roof Surfaces

WSH Pictogram: Workers have died falling through fragile surfaces.

WSH Insights: Prevent Falls from Open Sides

WSH Insights: Prevent Falls with Travel Restraints

Presentation Slides by Roofing Association of Singapore: Working on Fragile Surfaces

UK Health and Safety Executive

Fragile roofs: Safe Working Practices