FALL PROTECTION: FROM ROOFTOP SNOW REMOVAL TO
GENERAL WORK ACTIVITIES AT HEIGHTS
Yorio Sato
Midori Anzen Co. Ltd., 5-4-3 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8455, Japan

ABSTRACT: The heavy casualties inflicted by the 2005 and 2006 snow storms
prompted the need to establish the rooftop snow removal safety association tobroaden safety awareness in rooftop snow removing activities. Since its
establishment, the organization has helped advance the research, development andvalidation of fall protection devices not only for workers involved in rooftop snow
removal, but also those who need to work at height. This presentation will outline
some of the main activities as well as developments of work-at-height safetysystem carried out by the organization; it will also provide a brief overview of afew safety products developed as auxiliary devices to the safety system. Light andcompact full body harness, plus a few recent safety devices will also be introduced.

Background
The Rooftop Snow Removal Safety Association (in short ‘ROSRESA’) was established inresponse to the call of Midori Anzen president Mr. Matsumura for Japan’s safety industry to do
more to protect individuals from accidental falls while they work on rooftop – after the report ofheavy casualties caused by the massive snowstorm in 2006 (152 fatalities, 2105 cases of serious
and minor injuries). ROSRESA currently has 14 member companies and has been operating
since June 2006 as one of the entities under the non-profit organization JSAA (Japanese Safety
Appliances Association).

The Beginning
One of ROSRESA’s initial missions was to gather Japan’s safety industry members to discussand recommend the best possible safety solution for protecting those involved snow removalwork. As the participating members have never worked collectively to create safety solution forgeneral users, they decided to start by talking to local organizations and entities (in areas ofNiigata prefecture, Tokamachi city and Minami Uonuma city) involved in snow removalactivities. From the discussions, ROSRESA noticed that (a) rooftop snow removal in Japansnowy residential area is generally done by older individuals, and (b) the work is often done
alone by these individuals without any fall protection measure in place.
In Oct that same year, two important annual safety exhibitions were held in Japan bringing
more limelight on the safety issue for those who need to work at height. The first exhibition was
Japan’s annual biggest safety show ‘The Green Cross Safety Expo’ held in Niigata, and thesecond one was the JCOSHA (Japan Construction Occupational Safety and Health Association)
convention held in Sapporo. As both exhibitions featured fall protection theme, ROSRESA
seized the opportunity and exhibited its demos of simulated rooftop operations with relevant fallsafety devices. At both events, ROSRESA also conducted survey to broadly collect comments
on fall safety needs from those who are involved in rooftop operations. These collected
comments later served as valuable data for ROSRESA to research on fall protection solutions.

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Figure 1. (Left) Exhibiting demo of simulated rooftop operations and devices.
(Right) Experimenting on actual rooftop.
Riding on a tide of positive user responses at the two safety exhibitions, ROSRESA quickly
carried out multiple experiments on the installation as well as application of fall protection
devices in simulated environment, using its laboratory on loan from Niigata prefecture (locatedat Shiozawa district of Minami Uonuma city). However, the low amount of snowfall in 2007
failed provide an adequate testing environment to validate ROSRESA fall safety devices .
It should be mentioned that from the get-go, the prefecture of Niigata has been very
supportive to ROSRESA’s initiatives. Apart from the Shiozawa laboratory, Niigata offered an
additional experiment laboratory for ROSRESA to conduct its various fall safety experiments.
This additional facility sits conveniently behind the Etsugo Yuzawa station, providing eveneasier access to users than the Shiozawa laboratory. When initially open, the Etsugo Yuzawa
laboratory was not brought to its full utilization capacity due to low amount of snowfall thatyear. Despite this, ROSRESA did not slow down and continued to make progress in its fallsafety research and initiatives. The uninterrupted developments paid off and helped ROSRESA
bring the Etsugo Yuzawa laboratory to its full capacity in 2010. Some of the experiments
performed at that lab were: 1) Elevator Ladder (ladder with small steps), 2) Lifeline and rope
grip, safety block, 3) Body harness and safety belt, 4) Anchors, 5) System that enables lifeline
installation from the ground level. Through tireless experiments and validations, ROSRESA wasable to make many improvements upon its fall safety system. In February 2012, ROSRESA thesystem and featured it in its catalog widely distributed to various local labor authorities andentities that help draft safety standards.

Fall Protection System for Rooftop Snow Removal (tentatively ‘ Rakubo’)
The biggest characteristic of this fall safety system is its ability to enable users to deploy
vertical lifeline on rooftop from ground level. Two of the main components of this system are
Rakubo Stick and Pilot Line. When used together, they can help users safely put in place a30-meter long (12 mm in diameter) vertical lifeline.

                                                Figure 2. (Left) Rakubo at work in rooftop snow removal. (Right) Rakubo stick, pilot line.

Weight of Snow as Anchor: Convenient and Eco-Friendly
The square-shaped anchor plate (approximately 50 cm in length on each side) uses the same- 202 -material as the safety belt to hold the snow. As such, it can withstand up 20 KN of force whenburried in and weighed down by snow. Since the anchor uses only snow, this system is alsoarguably one of the eco-friendliest available. Aside from the anchor plate, ROSRESA has also
developed a weight bucket to enable the use water or packed snow as anchor.

Figure 3. (Left). Anchor plate. (Right) Weight bucket.
From its experiments, ROSRESA has confirmed that snow weight of at least 50 kg is needed
to create an anchor. Calculating the specific gravity of snow based on this confirmation,ROSRESA has determined that the anchor plate needs to be buried under at least 50 cm ofpacked snow in order for it to work as an anchor for stopping a fall. If packed snow is notreadily available, frozen snow can also be used as anchor to produce sufficient fall arrest power.

Looping Approach – Simple Lifeline Deployment without using RakuboA 30-meter long (12 mm in diameter) of eight strand plaited rope is used as the standard lifeline.
By tying special loops and using them with carabiners, or using carabiners with the ‘8’ rings,
user can adjust the length of lifeline for safe anchor connection. Professional snow removal
operators generally have a variety of devices (such as Rakubo, self-retractable safety block, rope
grip, etc.) at their disposal to implement proper fall protection. However, in the case of generalusers, they often do not have the similar level of access or financial resources for fall protection
devices. To help these users, ROSRESA has developed a loop-and-carabiner approach that canhelp user create a simple yet effective vertical lifeline for fall protection.

Figure 4. (Left) Simple yet effective: loop on vertical lifeline. (Right) Deploying the lifeline.
For houses with fixed ladders to their roofs (typically found in snowy areas of Japan), before
the snow season begins, user can connect the top of the fixed ladder with the lifeline loop (orengage the hook/carabiner of the lifeline to the ladder-top) and suspend a vertical lifeline to theground. The vertical lifeline must have a loop at each interval of 1.5-meter throughout its length.
Once deployed, user can safely go up and down the ladder by alternately connecting the 2 hooks(or carabiners) from the lanyard of his safety belt D-rings. Combining the use of vertical lifeline,
hooks/carabiners, lanyard, D ring and safety belt ensures that user is connected to the lifeline at
any given moment when moving up and down on the work ladder. Once the on-ladder safety issecured, user can safely proceed to the center position of the rooftop and drop a 30-meter
lifeline vertically down on both sides of the roof. On the ground, connect each end of the lifeline
to an anchor to complete the vertical lifeline deployment. Naturally, before using this approach,the fixed ladder in use MUST BE first confirmed to have the strength to endure 11 KN ofweight force as required by Japanese standards.

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The Stop Belt – Enabling Movements on Lifeline
The Stop-Belt is yet another innovative and economic way to help general users perform
rooftop work safely; it provides user flexibility of movement while being connected on lifeline.

   Figure 5. (Left) Lifeline, stop belt and carabiner lanyard working as one. (Right) Stop belt.
To use the stop belt, simply connect it to the lanyard hook of the safety belt (by engaging
both of its end-rings with the hook to form a loop). After adjusting the lifeline loops to ensure
proper fall arrest, user can freely slide the engaged stop belt between two lifeline loops. Thisenables broader range of movements on both sides of the rooftop to perform work. In addition,
the scope of movements can also be adjusted by widening, or tightening, the distance between
the lifeline loops.

The Snow Removal Work Belt (with movable D ring) – Safe and Work-Adaptable
Due to its movable D-ring created to better facilitate operations, this device is not allowed by
Japanese safety standards to be called a ‘safety belt’. However, the item has been confirmed topossess the strength required by the Japanese standards to serve as a fall protection belt. If a fallshould occur, the belt, working in conjunction with other falling protection devices, would stopa fall with its two thigh loop attachments (standard feature), and additionally securely keep thebelt in its position preventing its accidental upward slip to user’s chest or neck to endanger life.

Figure 6. Work belt in action.

The Mesh Snow-light Work Harness - one of the lightest compact work harnesses
This is arguably one of the most suitable mesh work harnesses for general users. Due to its 25
mm wide webbing, this item is not allowed by Japanese standards to be called a ‘safety harness’.
However, similar to the ‘work belt’, this item has been confirmed to meet the requirement ofJapanese safety standards and pack enough strength to function as a safety harness. It is also aneasier harness to don on correctly than the already user-friendly Mesh Body Safety Harness.

Figure 7. Mesh snow-light
ht harness.
h- 204 -Specifications and Requirements Information Tag on Lifeline
Until now, there was no indication of the required product specifications on any of the lifeline
products in Japan. This situation has often left user having to make an educated guess theproduct’s replacement period and required strength. Noticing this, ROSRESA adopted a practiceof tagging each of its lifeline products the required specifications and replacement time.
Spelling out clearly such information on the lifeline product ensures that each item is adequate
for its intended purpose and for how long. Information tagging is an extremely important step inany lifeline development process, regardless of the ultimate application of the product (rooftop
snow removal or general work at height).

Figure 8. Tag with specification info on product.

Safer Snow Removal Operations – Recognizing the Fall Protection NeedROSRESA has been developing and proposing proper fall protection solutions to snow removal
professionals as well as general users alike over several years. The organization has spared noeffort to heighten public awareness of the danger in snow removal work conducted without fall
protection. However, despite ROSRESA efforts, it will take time and further collaborations fromvarious organizations - on both a national and local level - for the fall protection solutions
proposed by ROSRESA to gain broader recognition. Support from local authorities and entities,
including voluntary groups and community support organizations, is particularly crucial. This
support can come in various forms - from the efforts of broadly educating the general users, tothe actual practice of providing assistance such as subsidized purchase or rental of the necessary
fall protection devices to general users – so that ideally each of them can implement proper fall
protection before proceeding with any rooftop operations. Another influential factor may lie in
the housing developers’ broader recognition of the need for fall safety system, so that they candesign houses in the future with features to facilitate rooftop installation of fall protection
system. A broadened recognition in the society as a whole of the need for fall safety in snow
removal operations is essential to help reduce the yearly accidental deaths and injuries caused
by falls from work at height.                                     - 205 -- 206 -