Fall Prevention Systems
HERMEQ supplies a growing range of edge protection and fall prevention systems that guard against one of the most serious hazards on a construction site: a fall from height. The range covers mesh barrier systems for slab edges and voids, stair and trench edge protection, column and overhead fall arrest, safety nets and fall arrest bags.
Our best sellers are the Aluminium Fall Arrest System and the Heavy Duty Fall Arrest System, used on formwork and decking where the edge moves with the work. Barriers, posts and sliders are UK manufactured with in-house steel processing, and the range is held as permanent UK stock.
Types of edge protection systems
The edge being guarded decides the system: a slab perimeter, a stair flight, a trench sheet and a floating pontoon each give the barrier something different to fix to, and the range has a system for each.
Mesh barrier edge protection
Mesh edge protection barriers on edge protection posts are the standard choice for floor slab perimeters, lift shafts, M&E voids and roof plant areas on multi-storey frames. The galvanised mesh closes the opening from deck level to the top rail, so it stops loose materials as well as people, and the posts lock into their footings without tools, so a run can follow the frame as each floor is poured. Retaining slider brackets hold each panel on its post and stop it lifting out.
Height make-up barriers
The height make-up barrier sits above a standard mesh run where a void, a public area below or a risk of falling debris calls for a taller guard. It slots over the posts already in place and is held with the same sliders.
Stair edge protection posts
Stair guard safety posts carry scaffold boards or timber rails along open stair flights and stairwell voids during fit-out, refurbishment and housebuilding. One post suits straight runs and corners alike, so a whole stair layout is planned around a single item. Choose them where the guard is built from boards already on site.
Edge protection for trench sheets and sheet piles
Shoring clamps for sheet piles fix edge protection posts to the top of trench sheets, sheet piles and narrow concrete walls, which puts a guardrail at the edge of an excavation without setting posts into the ground behind it. They are the choice for drainage, basement and cofferdam work where the support wall itself is the edge, and HERMEQ also supplies the trench sheets they clamp to.
Temporary handrails and guarded walkways
Where the guardrail is built from scaffold tube, SG4 handrail feet give each upright a galvanised, slip-resistant base and leave the area beneath the rail clear for access. Aluminium handrail and board walkways combine a non-slip plywood deck with an aluminium handrail for staging across roofs and mezzanines or between levels, and suit routes that need a guarded platform as well as a guarded edge.
Pontoon barriers
Pontoon barriers are made for modular floating pontoons, where an ordinary post cannot be fixed and the hazard is water as well as height. They are powder coated against corrosion and fit to the pontoon without tools, for bridge and dock works, canal maintenance and riverside events with floating walkways.
Edge protection or fall arrest
Guard the edge wherever it can be guarded, catch the fall where it cannot, and connect the worker to an anchor only where the edge moves with the work. That order follows the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which put avoiding work at height first, then collective measures that prevent a fall, and only then measures that limit the distance and consequences of a fall.
Barriers and handrails are the first choice wherever there is a structure to fix them to and the edge stays in one place for the length of the job, because a guardrail protects everyone on the deck without relying on each person to clip on. Where an edge cannot be guarded, such as an upper floor being fitted from inside a house shell or the open side of a trailer, nets and fall arrest bags catch the fall and are still collective protection, needing nothing from the person who falls.
Personal fall arrest, an anchor with a harness and a retractable block, is the right choice where the edge advances as the work does: leading edge decking, formwork being set or struck, steel erection and work on top of a load. Many projects use more than one layer at once, with mesh barriers on the finished slab below and column fall arrest on the deck being laid above it.
Fall arrest systems for formwork, trailers and confined spaces
Each fall arrest system in the range is matched to what gives it an anchor, whether that is the concrete frame, a portable base, a socket, ballast or a counterweight.
Column fall arrest systems for formwork and decking
The aluminium fall arrest system and the heavy duty fall arrest system anchor into the concrete structure and hold a retractable block above the deck, giving full 360 degree movement around the column while panels are laid or rebar is fixed. Neither needs a crane to put up. The aluminium system is light enough for one person to place and move between pours, and the heavy duty system is built for the most demanding formwork and decking cycles.
Portable fall arrest posts
The portable fall arrest system is a complete kit of post, block, harness and connectors for roof edges, beams, steelwork and temporary platforms that have no permanent anchor and no overhead fixing. It travels between sites as one set, which suits steel erectors and scaffolding contractors working short jobs.
Overhead fall arrest anchors
The MultiPercher anchors place the anchor point on an arm above the work. The socket-mounted overhead fall arrest anchor is for formwork, concrete frames, structural steel, inspection and maintenance, and selected versions come with a retractable block. The trailer fall arrest system is for trailers, flatbeds and articulated vehicles that have no anchor point of their own.
Davit systems for confined space entry
The counterbalance davit system lowers and raises a person into shafts, chambers and drainage works and is the rescue point if the entrant needs recovering. It can be moved across a large site to each new entry point, which suits civil engineering and utility work with no fixed base plates.
The harnesses, lanyards and connectors that join a worker to these anchors are in our range of harnesses and height PPE.
Fall arrest bags and safety netting
Bags and nets catch a person who falls without anything being worn or clipped on, and catch fans protect the area below from tools and debris dropped from the work.
Fall arrest bags
Fall arrest bags are air-filled cushions that clip together to cover a floor area and give a soft landing for low-level falls, tested to PAS59:2014. They suit housebuilding, where joists, trusses and upper floors are fitted from inside the shell and a guardrail has nothing to fix to. The bags are light and stackable, so a gang can lay out a floor, lift it and move it to the next plot quickly.
Fall arrest safety nets
Fall arrest safety nets are System S nets to EN 1263-1, hung below the working level to catch a falling person. They are the choice for steel frame, roofing and infrastructure work where people move over a large open area that barriers cannot guard and where harnesses would restrict the work. Each net is tagged and numbered, which keeps inspection records traceable from one job to the next.
Catch fans for falling debris
Safety net catch fans project from a slab edge, scaffold or wall to catch tools and debris before they reach pavements, neighbouring property or people below, which matters most on tight city sites with no room for an exclusion zone. They go up without a crane and fold upright to clear lifting paths. The mini scaffold catch fan is a smaller unit that clips to the scaffold guardrail for maintenance and lower scaffold work.
Scaffold, roof and trailer edge protection
Scaffold edge protection and scaffold-free perimeters
On a scaffold, the guardrail and boards at each lift are part of the scaffold itself, built from scaffold boards, tube and fittings, and HERMEQ supplies the rest of the scaffolding equipment around them. This range covers what the scaffold leaves open: a catch fan below the working lift where the public pass underneath, and the edges of a frame put up without a perimeter scaffold.
Roof edges and plant rooms
Flat roof perimeters and plant room edges under construction take mesh barriers on posts where the roof slab accepts a fixing, or a scaffold tube handrail on SG4 feet. Where work has to happen beyond the guardrail, at a parapet or gutter line, a portable fall arrest post gives the worker an anchor without any overhead fixing.
Lorry and flatbed trailer fall protection
A trailer bed has no structure to carry a barrier, and loaders and drivers work right up to its open sides. Fall arrest bags around the trailer give a collective soft landing for people working at bed level, and they move from vehicle to vehicle in a busy yard. The trailer anchor suits a fixed loading bay where people climb onto the load itself and need to stay connected overhead, with a double set covering both sides of the trailer.
Guardrail height, standards and colours
Guardrail height
A standard mesh barrier run gives a 1.1m guardrail, and the make-up barrier takes it to 1.7m. The make-up barrier fits only the taller of the two edge protection post heights, so if a job may need the higher guard at any stage, buy the taller posts from the start. The higher panels can then be added later without re-posting the run.
Standards across the range
Mesh barriers, posts, retaining sliders, make-up barriers and shoring clamps form one tested system to EN 13374 Class A, the temporary edge protection class for flat and shallow surfaces where the guard resists a person leaning on it or walking into it. The portable fall arrest post, the trailer anchor and the davit are anchor devices to EN 795, the portable kit's fall arrest block and the davit meet EN 360, and the davit also meets EN 1496 for rescue lifting. The aluminium walkway is certified to BS2037 Class 1.
Colours and powder coating
Mesh barriers are galvanised, and the barrier range can be powder coated in-house in stock colours or to a contractor's corporate colours. A coloured perimeter is easier to see from the ground and marks out one firm's equipment on a shared project. Pontoon barriers also take colour and logo options.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is edge protection?
Edge protection is a guardrail or barrier fixed along an open edge, such as a slab perimeter, stairwell, roof or excavation, to stop people and materials falling from it. It is collective protection, so it protects everyone near the edge without any action from the individual worker. Temporary edge protection goes up during construction and is moved or removed once the permanent structure is complete.
What is the difference between fall arrest and fall restraint?
Fall restraint keeps a worker on a lanyard short enough that they cannot reach the edge, so a fall cannot start. Fall arrest lets the worker reach the edge and stops them after a fall has begun, using an anchor, a harness and an energy-absorbing or retractable device. Restraint is preferred wherever the task allows it, and arrest is used where the work has to be done at the edge itself.
Does temporary edge protection need a toe board?
Yes. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require a toe board or a similar barrier at deck level wherever materials or tools could be knocked off the edge, and EN 13374 tests the guard with it in place. HERMEQ mesh barriers have toe boards built into the panel, so no separate boards are needed on a mesh run.
Will HERMEQ mesh barriers fit other Z-profile edge protection systems?
HERMEQ mesh barriers are made to the standard Z-design panel, so they fit HERMEQ posts and sliders and are interchangeable with other systems built to the same Z pattern. A contractor can add HERMEQ panels to an existing stock of Z-profile edge protection or replace damaged panels without changing the posts.
Who should install and inspect temporary edge protection?
Temporary edge protection should be put up by trained, competent operatives working to the manufacturer's instructions and the site's method statement. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require a competent person to inspect it after installation, after any event that could affect it, such as a vehicle strike or a storm, and at suitable intervals while it is in use, with the results recorded. Harnesses, blocks and anchors need the same regular inspection by a competent person.