Project Overview:

As a prominent feature of the Dartmouth landscape; the CFIA laboratory was in need of a permanent Fall Protection System that supported maintenance activities on the roof and building facades inclusively.

A traditional roof anchor layout was used on the main/flat roof sections allowing proper tie back and fall protection when using suspended equipment. The familiar dome section however required more design consideration. One of the primary considerations was the needs of the maintenance workers when accessing the vent stacks for routine inspections. To address this issue, custom slings and stirrups were provided for attachment to the strategically located fall arrest anchors thus allowing workers to be tethered 100% when accessing / egressing the vent stacks. Another design consideration was how the curved structural beams would react to a fall-arrest load. To address this, structural reinforcing was added at all anchor locations to the adjacent beams. Due to the high concentration of mechanical equipment in penthouse, extra caution was required to ensure safe work positioning.

To retain the visual aesthetics of the building and considering the close proximity to the Halifax harbor, all fall protection components were stainless steel. Material selection is one of the many aspects ProTech considers when designing a practical Fall Protection System.