The Purple Book
Edge protection
ACR Best Practice Guide
ACR[CP]006:2015 Rev3
Practical methods of providing edge protection for working on roofs
It is against the law for people to work unprotected close to an edge off which they can fall a distance that will cause injury or harm.
Consequently, people working on roofs must be protected from falling from any exposed edge. Similarly, those who install the selected protection must also be protected from falling.
This Best Practice Guide has been drawn up to provide information on practical methods that can be used to prevent workers on roofs falling off an exposed edge.
Edge protection can take many forms but, traditionally, it has used tube and fitting, scaffold components, supplemented where necessary by nets, fencing meshes and tensioned wires. More recently, it has been formed from purpose-made components, manufactured and/or assembled by specialist companies.
Any system in conformity with the BS EN 13374 will provide adequate edge protection for workers on roofs. ( A brief overview of BS EN 13374 is given at the end of this document, together with illustrations of the various types of edge protection it covers.)
The edge protection systems dealt with in this guide are, at the time of writing, generally available and considered good practice when constructed correctly and erected safely. They can be erected using readily available components.
Rev 2 : updated to reflect latest version of BS EN 13374
Rev3 : minor corrections to text and picture formats
1st published 16/04/09
Rev2 published 28/11/2014
Rev3 published 18/06/2015