Belgium - Gullegem | “Our engineers and I are extremely satisfied with use of RSS edge protection. We’ve been using it for more than 2 years now. The fact that some installers are still fitting solar panels without any form of fall protection is totally incomprehensible,” says Peter Vandoorne from bvba Vandoorne. “Placing edge protection from RSS is an investment that makes the work a lot safer, more pleasant and ultimately faster. It makes installing panels in high winds a good deal more comfortable too.”

Vandoorne also works with extra nets to prevent anything falling down from the roof. “At the end of the day, it’s not only the engineers on the roof who need protection, but also people walking below them, such as passers-by and other engineers, the customer coming to take a look, cyclists riding past and cars. We ourselves use extra nets to prevent smaller items like a roof bracket or a tool falling down accidentally.”

Vandoorne calls upon his fellow installers to take fall protection seriously: “I’m always angry when I see that some colleagues do nothing at all to protect themselves, their personnel or people in their working environment. After all, we’re professionals, not reckless amateurs. Those in that latter category have no business being on a roof! Even trapeze artists work with a safety net.”

But the customer too has to take his responsibility: “It’s bad enough that the end-customer is usually not particularly interested in safety, because he thinks ‘the professional’ knows what he’s up to…and that safety is simply included in any quote. But not every contractor takes this aspect of the installation as seriously and provides a budget for it. The end-customer needs to be made more aware that a contractor must be able to work safely.”

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