Ensuring Data Center Safety During Operations
Data centers are critical infrastructures, with any outage potentially costing a company millions of dollars. They rely on a range of equipment such as ventilation and cooling systems, UPS units, generators, and cabling to maintain uninterrupted operation. Given that much of this equipment is often located on rooftops, engineers and contractors require access for regular inspections, maintenance, and emergency repairs. Thus, ensuring the safety of workers is paramount. Essential safety equipment like stepovers, crossovers, fixed work stands, walkways, guardrails, and warning lines are indispensable for personnel working on data centers.
Hierarchy Of Fall Protection For Data Center
Adhering to ANSI hierarchy of fall protection is crucial for safeguarding workers on data center rooftops. Regular review of key hazardous areas, such as unprotected roof edges and obstacles, is essential to ensure that work can be carried out safely.
- Eliminate the Hazards
- Passive Fall Protection
- Active Work Restraint
- Active Fall Arrest
- Administrative Controls
Safety Solutions For Data Centers
Performance maintenance, particularly in data centers, can pose inherent hazards. Navigating obstacles like ventilation and cooling systems, UPS units, generators, and cabling heightens the risk of injury for workers. Our crossover provides a safe means for personnel to navigate these hazardous obstacles, mitigating workplace injuries.
Facilitating safe access to rooftop locations presents challenges given the diversity of roof surfaces and layouts. Our walkways offer a secure, level pathway for personnel needing rooftop access. Specifically designed to mitigate slips and falls on slippery membrane and standing seam rooftops, these anti-slip walkways ensure the safety of both your workers and the integrity of your roof.
Our guardrail system offers passive fall protection and administrative controls, establishing a secure work environment for personnel throughout the facility. Designed to integrate seamlessly with existing ladders, equipment, and obstructions, our system provides durable and compliant fall protection.
Our safe access work stands are designed to meet the needs of your specific application and built to exceed OSHA safety standards. These elevated work stands are purpose-built to provide a safe and stable platform so work at height can be conducted without the risk of slipping and falling.
An Expert Is Ready To Help
The solution to your unique platform access requirement is only a click away. When you need deck solutions that provide stability, flexibility and safety that meets the highest OSHA and Military standards, turn to FlexDecks. We’re ready to help.
Custom Platform Solutions
FlexDecks regularly engineers platform systems to suit specific site requirements and applications. Custom configurations can range from added steps to revamping entire maintenance systems. Our experienced engineers and fabricators are able to do as little or as much as needed to meet your exact requirements.
OSHA Food Processing Fall Protection Standards
Employers must set up the work place to prevent employees from falling off of overhead platforms, elevated work stations or into holes in the floor and walls.
OSHA requires that fall protection be provided at elevations of four feet in general industry workplaces.
In addition, OSHA requires that fall protection be provided when working over dangerous equipment and machinery, regardless of the fall distance.
Each employee is protected from falling into a stairway floor hole by a fixed guardrail system on all exposed sides, except at the stairway entrance. However, for any stairway used less than once per day where traffic across the stairway floor hole prevents the use of a fixed guardrail system (e.g., holes located in aisle spaces), the employer may protect employees from falling into the hole by using a hinged floor hole cover that meets the criteria in § 1910.29 and a removable guardrail system on all exposed sides, except at the entrance to the stairway.
1910.28(b)(3)(iv)
Each employee is protected from falling into a ladderway floor hole or ladderway platform hole by a guardrail system and toeboards erected on all exposed sides, except at the entrance to the hole, where a self-closing gate or an offset must be used.
