AU2006100648A4

AU2006100648A4 - A safety device for an elevated work area

Info

Publication number: AU2006100648A4
Application number: AU2006100648A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Rod Laing-Peach
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-08-01
Filing date: 2006-08-01
Publication date: 2006-08-31
Anticipated expiration: 2014-08-01
Also published as: AU2006100648B4

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 ROD LAING-PEACH COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title.

A safety device for an elevated work area The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us tbq A safety device for an elevated work area

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Field of the invention This invention relates to fall protection systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a safety device for an elevated work area.

Background to the invention IFor workers who are required to perform their work on elevated work areas the risk Oof falling from the area is of serious concern. This concern is greatest on inclined work areas which do not have a barrier or fence bounding the area.

Systems, commonly referred to as "fall protection systems" or "fall arrest systems", have been developed to arrest a person falling from an elevated work area such as a roof of a building. Typically, such systems include a harness to be worn by a worker, a lifeline, and an anchor fixed to the roof. An end of the lifeline is anchored to the anchor and a portion of the lifeline is attached to a rope grab device carried by the harness.

Existing anchors are designed to be mounted to structural members of a frame of the roof. Such anchors may be easily installed during construction of the building.

However, it is difficult to fix these anchors after construction of the building has been completed as roof members, such as roof sheets, must be removed to provide access to the frame so that the anchor can be fixed to the structural members. Once the anchor is fixed in place the roof sheets need to be repositioned. Fixing of anchors in this manner often results in the roof sheets not sitting flush with the frame due to interference with the anchor which results in a passage being defined through which water may pass under the roof sheeting. Such passages also allow access to the roof space by animals, birds, or insects which could also have adverse consequences.

Summary of the invention According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a safety device for an elevated work area, the device including: an elongated member having a cross-sectional profile which complements a contour of the work area; a plurality of receiving formations defined by the elongated member, each receiving formation being arranged to receive a fastener to fasten the elongated member in position

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relative to the work area; and at least one end of the elongated member having an attaching formation extending O0 therefrom for attachment to a lifeline, the attaching formation being formed integrally with Ithe elongated member as a one-piece unit.

_The attaching formation may comprise a tongue which defines an opening for Ireceiving an attaching component of the lifeline. The tongue may extend from the end of Sthe elongated member at an angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the elongated member.

In use, the angle at which the attaching formation extends may allow the attaching formation to stand proud of the contour of the work area.

The opening defined by the tongue may be an elongated opening such as a slot.

The opening may be sized to receive only one attaching component. The attaching component may be in the form of a karabiner.

The elongated member and the attaching formation may be formed of steel, preferably, a grade of stainless steel.

Each receiving formation may be in the form of a hole arranged such that each fastener extends through the associated hole to engage with a structural member which underlies the work area.

The work area may be a roof of a building. The roof may include roof sheets which have a series of peaks and troughs which define the contour. The cross-sectional profile of the elongated member may complement an associated peak or trough of the contour. The contour defined by the roof sheets may be one of corrugated, square corrugated, square rib, square rib broadsheet, rib and pan, flat pan, secret clip, and hi-rib.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a safety kit which includes: a safety device as described above; and a plurality of fasteners, each fastener being receivable in a receiving formation to fasten the elongated member in position relative to the work area.

Each fastener may be one of a screw and a rivet.

The safety kit may include a flexible membrane. The flexible membrane may have an adhesive on opposed surfaces of the membrane. The adhesive may increase a load carrying capacity of the safety device. In use, the flexible membrane may be arranged between the elongated member and the work area.

The flexible membrane may be attached to an operatively lower surface of the elongated member. oO Brief description of the drawings An exemplary embodiment of a safety device is now described with reference to the IDaccompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:- FIG. 1 shows a blank for forming a safety device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a safety device formed from the blank of FIG.

1; FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the safety device, taken along line II-II of FIG. 2; and FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a part of a building having an elevated work area to which a safety device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention can be fixed.

Detailed description of an exemplary embodiment In the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally designates an exemplary embodiment of a safety device for an elevated work area 12 (FIG. The device includes an elongated member 14 having a cross-sectional profile 16 which complements a contour 18 of the work area 12. The elongated member 14 defines a plurality of receiving formations in the form of holes 20. Each hole 20 is arranged to receive a fastener in the form of a screw 22 to fasten the elongated member 14 in position relative to the work area 12. The device 10 also includes an attaching formation 24 which extends from an end 26 of the elongated member 14 for attachment to a lifeline 28 (FIG. The attaching formation 24 is formed integrally with the elongated member 14 as a one-piece unit.

FIG. 1 shows a blank 30 from which the safety device 10 is formed. The blank is a continuous, rectangular strip of stainless steel. A first portion 32 of the blank 30 is used to form the elongated member 14 and a second portion 34 of the blank 30 is used to form the attaching formation 24. The blank 30 is drilled to form the holes 20 and a slot 36 is also machined through the blank FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of the safety device 10 formed from the blank

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The attaching formation 24 is formed by bending the blank 30 at bend line 38 so that the first portion 32 defines the attaching formation 24 in the form of a tongue 40. The bend line 38 is arranged on the blank 30 such that the tongue 40 defines the slot 36. The 0 tongue 40 extends from the end 26 of the elongated member 14 at an angle relative to a oO I- longitudinal axis of the elongated member 14. In use, the angle at which the attaching formation 24 extends allows the tongue 40 to stand proud of the contour 18 of the work _area 12 to facilitate attachment of an attaching component in the form of a karabiner 42 ID(FIG. 3) carried by the lifeline 28 to the tongue As most clearly shown in FIG. 3, the cross-sectional profile 16 of the elongated member 14 is curved so that an operatively lower surface 44 (FIG. 3) of the elongated member 14 complements the contour 18 of the work area 12.

FIG. 4 shows a part of a building 46 having an inclined roof 48 which represents the elevated work area 12. The roof 48 is formed of corrugated roof sheets 50, a corrugation 52 of one of the roof sheets 50 defining the contour 18. The roof sheet 50 illustrated in FIG. 4 defines a traditional corrugated contour 18 having a repeating pattern of corrugations 52. The lower surface 44 of the elongated member 14, in use, sits flush with a raised part of the corrugation 52.

Each roof sheet 50 is attached to a plurality of battens 54 of a frame 56 of the building 46 by a plurality of roof screws 55. The battens 54 are arranged to span several rafters 57 of the frame 56. For the sake of clarity, only one rafter 57 is shown in FIG. 4.

The safety device 10 is installed on the roof sheet 50 so that the tongue 40 is positioned lower relative to the elongated member 14. In the event that the device 10 is fixed to a flat roof, the tongue 40 would be positioned closer to an edge of the roof relative to the elongated member 14.

To install the device 10, one of the roof screws 55 which is being used to hold the roof sheet 50 to the batten 54 is removed from its associated screw hole 58 defined by the roof sheet 50. A flexible membrane 60 is laid over the roof sheet 50 so that it covers the screw hole 58. The device 10 is then placed over the flexible membrane 60 and arranged such that a first hole 62 of the plurality of holes 20 is aligned with the screw hole 58.

However, it will be appreciated that the device 10 can be mounted to the roof sheet at a position adjacent to the existing screw 55, and that the roof screw 55 need not be used.

It will therefore be appreciated that the flexible membrane 60 is arranged between the elongated member 14 and the work area 12 to provide flashing to inhibit corrosion of the roof sheet 50 and the device 10. In addition, the flexible membrane 60 also inhibits water penetrating the roof sheet 00 ,In another embodiment, the flexible membrane 60 is in the form of a double-sided Itape having an adhesive on each side. The adhesive allows the flexible membrane 60 to be _attached to the elongate member 14 and to adhere the device 10 to the roof sheet IIn yet a further embodiment, the flexible membrane 60 is replaced by an adhesive Owhich, when set, forms an adhesive layer. The adhesive increases a load carrying capacity of the device 10 to that which arises from the use of the screws 22.

A first screw 22 of the plurality of screws 22 is passed through the first hole 62 in the elongated member 14 and pierces the flexible membrane 60 before passing through the screw hole 58. The first screw 22 is then screwed into the batten 54 to initially hold the device 10 in position. In this position, the remaining holes 20 of the plurality of holes defmned by the elongated member 14 act as a template for positioning the remaining screws 22. Each of the remaining screws 22 may be shorter than the first screw 22 and may be a self-drilling and self-tapping screw 22 such that it can be passed through the associated hole 20 so that it pierces the flexible membrane 60 before drilling through the roof sheet Accordingly, it is to be noted that it is not necessary to determine where the rafter 57 underlies the roof sheet 50. In particular, it is to be noted that the device 10 is simply fixed to an external surface of the roof sheet 48 and that the device 10 does not need to be fixed to the rafter 57 so that the device 10 is adequately supported.

Once the device 10 has been installed a worker may use the device 10 as part of a fall protection system. The fall protection system includes a harness (not shown) which can be worn by the worker. The harness carries a rope grab device to which the lifeline 28 is connected. The karabiner 42 is then attached to the tongue 40 so that the device 10 acts as an anchor for the worker in the event of a fall.

It is accordingly an advantage of a preferred embodiment of the invention to provide a safety device 10 for an elevated work area 12 which can be mounted to an external surface of a roof sheet 50 without the need to locate structural framework associated with the work area 12.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without 14 7 departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

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Claims

1. A safety device for an elevated work area, the device including: an elongated member having a cross-sectional profile which complements a contour oO 0I of the work area; ISO a plurality of receiving formations defined by the elongated member, each receiving formation being arranged to receive a fastener to fasten the elongated member in position O relative to the work area; and at least one end of the elongated member having an attaching formation extending therefrom for attachment to a lifeline, the attaching formation being formed integrally with the elongated member as a one-piece unit.

2. The safety device of claim 1 in which the attaching formation comprises a tongue which defines an opening for receiving an attaching component of the lifeline, the tongue extending at an angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the elongated member.

3. A safety kit which includes: a safety device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2; and a plurality of fasteners, each fastener being receivable in an associated receiving formation to fasten the elongated member in position relative to the work area.

4. The safety kit of claim 4 which includes a flexible membrane which, in use, is arranged between the elongated member and the work area. The safety kit of claim 3 or claim 4 in which the flexible membrane is attached to an operatively lower surface of the elongated member. Dated this first day of August 2006 Rod Laing-Peach Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F B RICE CO