Safety netting on a UK construction site is exposed to weather across its entire installed life. Wind, rain, snow, hail, temperature cycles. Each weather event can affect the net’s condition in ways that are not necessarily visible from ground level. Post-weather inspection is therefore not a defensive discipline but an operational necessity, and it is one of the items most commonly under-delivered on schemes where cost pressures dominate.
The regulatory framework is clear. BS EN 1263-2 requires the net installation to be inspected before first use, after any event likely to have affected the installation, and at regular intervals during use. Adverse weather qualifies as an event likely to have affected the installation. Where it has occurred, an inspection is required before the net is put back into use.
The specific weather events that trigger inspection include significant wind (typically over 50 km/h sustained), heavy rain or hail that could have moved the net or its anchorages, snow that has loaded the net beyond its design, or lightning strikes on any of the metallic components of the installation. Where any of these has occurred at the site, the inspection is not optional.
In practice, the inspection is straightforward. A competent inspector visually assesses the net for damage, checks the anchorages for movement or degradation, verifies the clearance geometry has not been compromised, and documents the findings. Where the net can continue in use, it is signed off. Where remedial work is required, it is specified and the net is out of use until the work is completed.
Red Safety Netting’s site protocol includes automatic post-weather inspection triggering. Where the Met Office data feed for the site postcode indicates a weather event above the threshold, an inspection is scheduled for the next working day and the site is notified. The inspection is completed before the next trade uses the net. Where the trade needs access before the inspection is complete, the netting-covered zone is treated as out of service until the sign-off.
The commercial argument for this discipline is that the alternative is worse. A net that has been compromised by weather and is not inspected is a net whose safety performance is unknown. If a fall occurs and the net fails to arrest safely, the investigation will focus on whether the required inspection was carried out. Where it was not, the principal contractor’s CDM position is significantly weaker than it needs to be.
For principal contractors, the practical arrangement is to ensure the fall protection contractor has an active weather monitoring and inspection response process. Where they do, the routine inspection cycle is supplemented by event-driven inspections that keep the safety case current. Where they do not, the safety case is aspirational rather than actual.
There is a specific consideration around long-programme schemes. Fall protection installed for six months on a scheme will typically experience twenty to thirty weather events meeting the inspection threshold across that period. Each inspection is a discrete event that has to be delivered and documented. Across the scheme, the cumulative inspection activity is meaningful.
For developers procuring fall protection on a per-scheme basis, the inspection regime should be specified as part of the tender documentation. A contractor whose tender explicitly prices for post-weather inspection is a contractor whose delivery will include it. A contractor whose tender is silent on inspection cycles will typically deliver the minimum interpretation of the requirement.
Red Safety Netting’s tenders include the inspection cycle explicitly, with the anticipated event frequency based on regional weather patterns. The inspection cost is transparent. The delivery matches what is priced. The principal contractor’s CDM file receives the documented inspection records without prompting.
Talk to Red Safety Netting To discuss post-weather inspection of your fall protection systems on your scheme, contact Red Safety Netting on 01223 890727 or email enquiries@theglobegroup.co.uk.
