How to update facilities' safety on-budget

The following story took place in Europe. In 2015 Austria has ratified the latest European Safety Regulations, offering a three-year time period during which every publicly visited building has to become fully compliant. This scenario plays out across the globe, including here at home. Similar circumstances for facilities' owners cause severe headaches, whether near the tropical beaches of Florida or snowy mountain caps of Alaska.

For more on how one savvy owner delivered a smart solution for his hospital in Bruck, Austria,
read this interview with Ronald Strasser founder of Strasser Safety Systems GmbH .

Question: Ronald, your project in Bruck involved a hospital where the roofs had to meet updated safety standards. What details of your experience on the project can you share with us?
Ronald: This was a very challenging project. In 2015 the Austrian government introduced new regulations for rooftop safety systems. All owners and facilities managers are required to bring their properties into compliance with the new regulations.
Q: How are the new Austrian regulations different from previous regulations?
R: The new regulations require that all commercial roofs, regardless of function, must have a rooftop fall-protection safety system installed to keep visitors and workers safe. Plus, all rooftop fall-protection systems must be inspected at least once a year to ensure the systems are functioning as designed.
Q: Wasn’t that always the case?
R: Previously, the definition of what constituted a “safe environment” wasn’t clear. The new regulation clarifies what type of safety system is required, as well as what level of certification the system needs to achieve. This was our first project challenge; the existing anchor points were old and the certification level of the system was insufficient. The second challenge was the extremely high cost of reengineering the existing system to make it compliant with the new regulations. The final challenge was finding a creative way to successfully penetrate the roof and reseal the new anchor points. The overall project posed many challenges, but fortunately we already were familiar with the Diasafe system. The unique benefits of a self-ballasted safety system solved most of the problems.

Download the whole interview about the project here .