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Eurosafe Solutions were asked by architects Lovell Chen to design and install a roof access system for the Grainger Museum at Melbourne University as other fall protection companies were unable to offer a solution.
Originally called the "Music Museum and Grainger Museum", and later the "Grainger Museum", the building was constructed for Percy Grainger between 1935 and 1938. It was officially opened in December 1938 and remains at its original location at the University of Melbourne. Lovell Chen and McCorkell Constructions were given the task to bring the Museum back to its former glory to house 100,000 thousand precious and rare items, such as art work, musical instruments, photographs, costumes and furniture.
The roof consists of a 100mm concrete slab with Kingspan Insulation and De Boer bituminous membrane coating. Due to the roof build up, its age and the valuable items that will be displayed in the museum, our initial option was to use Versi Rail a free standing handrail. This is a preferred method of fall protection and also avoided penetrating the roof, however due to the heritage restrictions this was not an option.
Following the Hierarchy of Risk Management, our next option was to use a fall restraint system. Fortunately the Latchways Constant Force post is an engineered and tested anchor with an integral energy absorber that limits the loads to a mere 10kN to roof in the event of a fall. This level of load control allowed us to fix to the aged shallow concrete slab.
The other major benefit was that we could ensure the roof would remain waterproof, as the Constant Force post is the only approved roof anchor that will not invalidate the total De Boer guarantee.
The system is designed to accommodate 3 users at any given time and with the Latchways Transfastener, it allows end users to move safely and freely around the roof. Giving them the very best in roof top safety.
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