HSE Health and Safety Regulations for GRP Sheeting from Filon UK

HSE CDM - The Health and Safety Regulations

HSE Construction (Design and Managment) Regulations

The HSE CDM Regulations recommend that fragile roofs should be avoided, and all new or refurbished roofs should be made non-fragile. The term non-fragile signifies that roof panels or rooflights should be strong enough to stop personnel falling through them on impact.

To achieve this requirement a test needs to be carried out on a roof assembly (not a sheet) to determine if it is non-fragile. The specification of this is detailed in the Advisory Committee for Roofing Material Standard ACR(M) 001:2000 Test for the Fragility of Roofing Assemblies, and endorsed by the HSE.

The test procedure involves dropping a 300mm dia. bag weighing 45kg, twice from a height of 1.2m onto a roofing assembly. From this a number of Classifications are defined depending on the resilience of the assembly.

If the bag passes through the assembly, it is classified as fragile.

If the bag is retained by the assembly after one test, it is classified as Class C non-fragile.

If the bag is retained after two drops it is classified as Class B non-fragile.

If there is no significant damage to the assembly after two drops, it is classified as

Class A non-fragile.
Due to damage on protected surfaces, which can affect long-term impact resistance of steel, aluminium and GRP sheets, they are generally designated Class B.

Likely periods for non-fragile classification of various GRP rooflight assemblies have been agreed. These consider the durability of the assembly to maintain its non-fragilty over a period of years. Filon's rooflights range from non-fragile when new, expected 25 years non-fagile, and non-fragile for the life of the surrounding roof, depending on the type of sheeting used in the assembly.

If you wish to obtain more information about the HSE CDM Regulations for rooflights you can view and print the literature in PDF format. To do this you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader running on your computer. Filon HSE CDM Brochure (206Kb)