Ballarat Homemaker Centre

What the job needed

Large-format retail buildings have tall walls and big roofs. The roof needs regular access for plant and maintenance, but one long straight ladder up a tall wall isn't something you want anyone climbing. AS 1657 limits how far a fixed ladder can run before it needs a landing, so the climb has to be broken up.

Once you're up, a large metal roof is easy to damage and easy to wander across. Without a set route, trades take the shortest line to wherever they're going, and that's rarely the safest one.

What we did

For ARK Industrial Construction:

• Kattsafe caged ladders with landing platforms, so the climb is split into safe sections
• A walkway across the metal roof, so trades follow a set route to the plant instead of walking the sheeting
• Guardrail, plus Moddex rail and stairs where the roof and platform levels change

Handover

Installed, certified and handed over with the documentation for the building's records.