The CE Approved Mobile Man Anchor is an item of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which has been specifically designed to provide short term safety for low frequency operations where guardrails are not provided. The unit is ideal for short term maintenance operations to flat roofs or to the plant and equipment installed at roof level such as AC units, telecommunications equipment etc.

Safesite's Mobile Man Anchor is extremely compact, portable, easily assembled and features a unique design incorporating a shock absorber which reduces the total weight of the unit, making the product more “user friendly”. The Mobile Man Anchor has been designed to be used with an approved shock absorbing rope grab and rope and full body harness to provide safe access at all times.

The unit is fully galvanised to BS EN ISO 1461:1999 Hot Dip Galvanised Coatings Specification and test methods. The Anchor Weights are supplied with suction cup rubber boots. These protect the roof membrane, increase friction resistance and enable the anchor to be used on all roof membranes, even in wet weather.

The Mobile Man Anchor fully complies with BS EN 795: Protection against falls from height - Anchor devices - Requirements and testing.

The unit has also been designed to ensure compliance with the following Regulations:

• Work at Height Regulations 2005
• Construction (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1996
• Construction (Design & Management) Regulations
• Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992
• Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992

BUILDING HEIGHT & SAFE WORKING

It is essential that a risk assessment is carried out by a competent person to ensure that the product is used safely. Part of the assessment will consider the building’s height and the combination of PPE to be used in conjunction with the Safesite Mobile Man Anchor.

Safesite recommends that, as far as reasonably practicable, the Mobile Man Anchor should be used as a fall restraint solution rather than fall arrest. When used for fall restraint, the Mobile Man Anchor must be used in conjunction with PPE that prevents the operative from reaching the leading edge. The Mobile Man Anchor should then be positioned so that the rope remains taught as the user approaches the edge.

If the above is not possible and a fall arrest solution is required then a sufficiently detailed risk assessment, method statement and rescue policy must be produced by a competent person. Care must also be taken to use the correct combination of PPE to minimize the distance & consequence of a potential fall.

Generally the length of the shock absorbing rope grab device should not exceed the height of the building in order to avoid the possibility of the pendulum effect. To prevent this, the Mobile Man Anchor should be placed perpendicular to the leading edge where the operative is likely to be working. The rope grab line should remain taught at all times when working at the leading edge.

No part of the Mobile Man Anchor should be placed closer than 2.5m from the nearest roof edge. The unit should not be placed on any surfaces affected by ice, grease or similar slippery conditions which may impair the performance of the unit.

ROOF PITCH & SAFE WORKING

The Mobile Man Anchor can be used on any flat roof or industrial steel cladded pitched roof up to 15° pitch provided that the unit is positioned on the opposite pitch to where the operative intends to work. When placed on a roof slope, the Mobile Man Anchor must be at least 2.5m from the ridge. In all cases, the roof structure must be capable of taking the load of the Mobile Man Anchor (250kg) combined with the weight of the operative, plus any additional equipment required.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require that the employer/ building owner has a rescue plan and policy in place for all fall arrest systems.

TESTING & CE APPROVAL

Safesite's Mobile Man Anchor has been extensively tested by SATRA to BS EN 795: Protection against falls from a height - Anchor devices - Requirements and testing. The unit was tested on the following roof surfaces and has been awarded CE Approval accordingly.

• Single Ply Membrane    
• HT Mineral Grade Felt    
• Swept Stone Chippings    
• Paving Slabs
• Asphalt
• Steel Cladding

EN 795 TEST PROCEDURE

The test involved a 100kg weight freefalling a distance of 2.5m to reach a maximum velocity. The Mobile Man Anchor then had to bring this force to a complete rest within a horizontal movement not exceeding 1.0m. This was achieved via the extension of the shock absorber coupled with horizontal movement of the complete unit. This test was then successfully duplicated using a 120kg weight. Full independent test documentation is available upon request.

In addition to the above testing, the Mobile Man Anchor has also been tested with a shock absorbing rope grab device with 14mm twisted rope connected to the shock absorber of the Mobile Man Anchor over steel & concrete sharp edges, thus representing on site usage of the system. The same test load as BS EN 795 was applied to the system. This testing successfully demonstrated the compatibility of the shock absorbing rope grab device with 14mm twisted rope when used horizontally in combination with a Safesite Mobile Man Anchor over sharp edges.

EN 795 REVIEW

This standard has recently been reviewed. As a consequence the 100kg test weight remains unchanged, but the free fall distance has been changed from 2.5m to 1.5m. Once this dynamic load has been applied an additional 100kg static load is then applied, thus representing an extreme rescue situation where a rescuer has no choice but to abseil to the casualty.