While roof height safety audits are indispensable, they are the most common way in which workers are exposed to fall hazards. Although precautionary measures, such as protecting the edges and creating distinct walking paths on the rooftop, may be taken the threat of a fall is only minimised but not completely removed. For this reason, the use of drones in roof height safety audits has been adopted to assist in the total alleviation of the dangers associated with such activities. Measure Australia’s drone-based roof height safety audits are very useful as they provide a safe option that is incredibly fast and affordable.
Figure: Height Safety inspection of a facility in Sydney, NSW
A beneficial aspect of using drones in height safety system audits is that they eliminate the need to work at dangerous heights. While traditional methods present auditors with the risk of falling or general injury, Measure Australia’s drones help in entirely doing away with such hazards. In Australia, drones are legally allowed to fly to up to ~120m high and this makes it possible to safely conduct all manner of roof climax safety audits that formerly involved workers on ropes. In this regard, the responsibility of conducting the audit is lead by Measure Australia’s drone operations team, who fly to the required areas so that the installed high-resolution cameras can capture images and record videos for further analysis.
Drone-based roof height safety audits are very fast. The use of drones helps in reducing the time used to conduct a safety audit by placing critical responsibilities on the swift and efficient technological equipment. Measure Australia’s experience, and the drones together eliminate the need for orientation and familiarisation to Occupational Health and Safety measures for those involved, minimising the time in the lead up to the audit. Drones can accomplish in one day what conventional manual methods would achieve in a week. The reduction of working hours used to conduct a single safety audit enables the actual condition of a structure to be established early enough to prevent additional hazardous situations, as well as expensive consequences. The incredible speed of drones is not only beneficial in the present circumstances but also in the future ones.
Figure: Height Safety inspection in 3D of a facility in Sydney, NSW
Use of drones in height safety system audits cut the cost of operations; because audits take less time to be completed but also due to a fewer number of workers. Ordinarily, roof height safety audits using conventional methods are harsh to both the employees and the industry’s equipment, and this can lead to downtime of operations, which may result in significant losses. Drones eliminate such shutdowns since audits are conducted even when normal industry operations are ongoing.
In conclusion, the incorporation of drones in roof height safety audits in Australia has not only made work safer but has also helped in cutting cost and time consumed. Using Measure Australia an audit team can carry out a roof height inspection without being in the danger zone. Such convenience, safety, and efficiency are what make drone-based roof height safety audits beneficial.
