Safe access, protected openings, thoughtful traffic patterns, and risk-based hazard assessments can significantly reduce the dangers workers face while performing rooftop inspections and maintenance.

• By David Kopf
• Aug 06, 2026

When safety professionals think about rooftop hazards, the first image that often comes to mind is an employee working near an unprotected roof edge. While that risk deserves attention, it represents only one part of a much broader rooftop safety strategy. Workers encounter hazards the moment they step onto a roof, and many serious incidents involve overlooked access points or unprotected skylights rather than the roof perimeter itself.

During a recent presentation on rooftop safety, Daniel Huntington, general manager of Key Safety and a fall protection specialist who helps organizations assess rooftop hazards and develop rooftop safety programs, encouraged employers to evaluate rooftop risks in the order workers actually encounter them. That practical approach can help safety professionals identify vulnerabilities, prioritize improvements, and better align their programs with OSHA requirements.

Every rooftop safety program begins with a simple question: How do workers get onto the roof?

According to Huntington, organizations often devote significant attention to protecting roof edges while overlooking access points such as fixed ladders, roof hatches, and stairways. Yet every employee accessing a roof must pass through these locations, making them some of the most frequently encountered hazards on the site.

OSHA requires employees to be protected from falls at ladder access points through measures such as guardrails with self-closing gates or properly designed offsets. The objective is to prevent workers from accidentally stepping or falling back through the roof opening during the transition from ladder to rooftop.

Huntington recommends thinking beyond minimum compliance and considering how employees move once they reach the roof. Rather than allowing workers to immediately travel along the perimeter, organizations should evaluate whether traffic patterns can direct employees toward the center of the roof before they move to specific work areas. Guiding workers away from exposed edges whenever practical reduces routine exposure to fall hazards without relying solely on personal protective equipment.

Another consideration is the condition of access systems themselves. Older fixed ladders may require upgrades to comply with current OSHA requirements, and organizations should evaluate whether stair towers or other permanent access methods make more sense for facilities with frequent rooftop traffic. Safe access should never become an afterthought simply because it is a familiar part of the job.

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2026 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.

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