Safe roof access walkways for commercial buildings make it easier to reach HVAC units, mechanical equipment, electrical systems, roof hatches, rooftop controls, and other areas needing frequent service or inspection. When properly planned, a rooftop walkway can prevent workers and contractors from walking on unstable roof surfaces, damaging roofing materials, or using unpredictable travel paths.
Commercial rooftops are a place of employment, not an empty space. Maintenance crews may need to walk across the roof several times a year carrying filters, testing meters, replacement parts, and handheld tools.
Why Do Commercial Buildings Need Roof Access Walkways?
Maintenance workers need roof access walkways so they have a predictable path from the roof entrance to critical mechanical equipment. When given no other option, staff may travel across uneven roof surfaces, dodge pipes in their path, and walk close to hazardous roof edges.
Roof access needs can become less predictable as buildings age. New HVAC units, exhaust vents, electrical conduits, utility lines, and rooftop communication devices may be added without consideration for maintaining the original travel route.
A rooftop walkway creates order from chaos by defining where workers should walk. REDD Team’s OSHA walkway systems can be customized with stairs, platforms, handrails, and other features to suit each facility’s roof access needs.
What Hazards Can Rooftop Walkways Help Address?
Rooftop walkways reduce the risk of trips, slips, falls, sharp elevation changes, equipment supports, electrical hazards, utility lines, and walking areas that were not designed for repeated foot traffic. They also eliminate the guesswork of determining where to walk during each visit.
Trips hazards include:
- Pipes and conduits that intersect natural walking paths
- Trip and slip hazards from sloped or uneven roof surfaces
- Wet, slippery, or debris-covered surfaces
- Roof mounted equipment such as ductwork and HVAC units
- Changes in elevation such as parapets
- Puncturing or crushing fragile roofing materials
Workers that carry tools may have an impaired ability to stabilize themselves after a misstep. Providing a designated route with slip-resistant walking surfaces can prevent trips while giving workers a stable path around equipment and obstacles.
Walkways do not eliminate the need for worker training, fall arrest protection, roof hazard assessment, or site specific safety procedures. They should be used in conjunction with other safety protocols to create a complete rooftop safety program.
What Features Should a Roof Access Walkway Include?
Roof access walkways should provide slip-resistant walking surfaces, adequate worker access, secure support attachments, and fall protection features that match the elevation and surrounding hazards. Handrails, guardrails, toe boards, stairs, and intermediate platforms may also be required depending on how the walkway is configured.
Walkway surfaces should have excellent slip resistance because roofs can become wet or slippery from rain, condensation, ice build up, dust, grease, and environmental debris. Self-draining walking surfaces help limit standing water on the walkway.
Walkway layouts should also consider rooftop drains, equipment access panels, ventilation outlets, and service clearances. A walkway that blocks technicians from accessing an HVAC panel or disrupts roof drainage will likely cause a new problem while trying to solve another.
Why Is Aluminum Well Suited to Rooftop Walkways?
Aluminum walkways work well on rooftops because they provide structural strength, corrosion resistance, lighter weight, and low maintenance. Aluminum will not rust or require periodic repainting like untreated steel support structures.
Lightweight materials can also make walkways easier to transport and install on the roof. This can be beneficial when installing walkways on existing structures since weight limits and access may influence the system design.
REDD Team installs modular [aluminum access platforms and walkways](https://www. reddyproducts.com/accessplatforms.html) on factory rooftops, commercial building atriums, theater infrastructure, and other hard-to-reach locations. All of our access platforms can be modified, adjusted, and relocated as needed.
Can Walkways Help Protect the Roof Membrane?
Installing walkways give building managers a way to limit random traffic across sensitive roof areas. If workers have a defined path, they are less likely to step on roof seams, walk pads, drainage areas, or other critical surfaces.
Roof walkways should be designed carefully since the addition of supports can impact the roof membrane. Load distribution should be considered along with how the walkway is installed.
REDD Team designs aluminum rooftop stairs and platforms to avoid unnecessary penetrations that could damage the roof membrane. By coordinating with the building owner, roofing contractor, engineer, and access system manufacturer, most conflicts can be avoided.
How Do Walkways Cross Pipes and Mechanical Equipment?
Pipes, ductwork, cable trays, equipment supports, and other rooftop obstacles can force a walkway to change elevation. This could require crossover stairs to go around the obstruction.
Crossover stairs let workers climb over the obstruction and cross from one side to the other on an elevated walkway. Stairs will typically include slip-resistant treads, handrails, guardrails, and a stable landing platform.
The height and length of crossover stairs should allow workers to clear the obstacle without interfering with equipment cooling vents, rooftop drainage, or access doors.
REDD Team’s industrial crossover stairs are designed for safely accessing areas over rooftop pipes and equipment. They provide a designated travel path so personnel do not have to step directly on pipes or other HVAC infrastructure.
How Can Walkways Improve Building Maintenance?
Building maintenance can be improved by installing walkways that make it easy for technicians to reach HVAC units and electrical systems without improvising how to safely cross the roof. Defined travel routes also make it easier to identify the path that should be used during employee training and contractor orientation.
Maintenance crews will eventually need to walk across the roof carrying air filters, motors, belts, air testing devices, chemicals, or replacement parts. Providing a stable walking surface can make the task easier compared to crossing debris-covered or obstructed roof areas.
Defined routes also reduce the likelihood of stepping on rooftop pipes, electrical conduits, curbs, skylights, or other infrastructure that was not designed to be walked on. When workers have no other option, they will likely travel wherever they need to go regardless of the risk.
How Should a Commercial Roof Walkway Be Planned?
Visit the roof and document the current conditions. Include the roof entrance hatch or door, locations of mechanical equipment, rooftop elevation changes, drainage areas, parapets, roof penetrations, pipes, ductwork, equipment service clearances, and traveled paths.
Consider how often maintenance workers use each travel path and what items they commonly carry. A walkway that leads to an HVAC unit needing monthly service will have different design considerations than a walkway used once a year to access rooftop controls.
Final designs should consider workplace safety requirements, structural loading capacities, desired walking surface conditions, support spacing, and equipment that may be added in the future. Adding a modular walkway system can allow changes if the rooftop equipment changes.
Planning safe roof access walkways for commercial buildings? Contact REDD Team at 800-648-3696 to discuss how aluminum walkways, stairs, and platforms can solve your rooftop access challenges. You can also reach out online.