Safety when working on sloped surfaces

I was talking to a friend about some roof work he is planning, and I told him that I always rope myself if I'm on a roof I am not totally comfortable on.  These days, I have knee problems, and the slope I can handle easily has changed, and I'm less comfortable on more of them.

I have repaired damaged areas and fixed air conditioners on some seriously iffy roofs, some of which I was more concerned about going through the roof than over the edge.  
I anchor the rope well on the ground (the hitch of my truck is a lovely anchor point) on the other side of where I will be working. If I have to be on both sides, I'll put a rope up from the other way too and switch as I cross the ridge.  I tie it to my waist so it's the length that is right before the edge, and I hold onto it as I go higher up, so I have stability, but if I slide or fall, I don't go over the edge.

A while back I bought for 3.00 each at a thrift store several climbing harnesses, like for hunters going up in trees to wait. Haven't used one yet, but the idea is to have a better way to tie a rope to myself than just around my waist.

I have also used ropes to go down steep ground, I  usually will put knots or loops in it to make it easier to hold onto.

This is how I do it, do you have a good way to share with us?

I would recommend people consider what they are wearing on their feet when they worked on sloped surfaces. Not all shoes are conducive to working on the variety of materials that you might encounter on a roof or even a steep ledge.

Before you put on your beat up sneakers/work shoes, consider what tread you have and what conditions you might encounter.

Great suggestions thus far - yes I've worn some shoes on a metal roof were the soles were very slippery, changed to "non-slip" boots and felt glued :)

One other thing is how you step and stand ...keep your weight centered above your feet, the moment you start leaning or striding out is when liklihood of slipping increases in my experience.

Pearl,

You may want to look into using 'prussiks' instead of knots for purchase/grip.  The prussik is short loop that is wrapped around you main line and acts as a friction brake.  It slides up and down the anchor rope  but grips the rope when the loop is pulled.  In high angle rescue and swift water rescue it is often used in as a second set of hands allowing someone to hold themselves in position with the weight of their body leaving their hands free.  Use a carabiner to clip the prussik to your harness.  as you ascend of descend the rope the prussik is slid up and down the rope.  If you fall the loop clamps down and arrests your fall.  

Specific to metal roofs, I have heard of magnetic boots for roofers.

For slopes in general, I think the idea is to go slow, keep your weight low, and don't be in a rush.

Wind is not your friend when you are high up as well. Planning for the outside conditions include keeping an eye on adverse weather.

I used to be a part of a volunteer fire company and our rural area had a handful of chimney fires every fall. Our usual procedure if it was contained to the chimney is to climb up and put out the fire from the top down. We would wear our full turnout gear which was around 50 pounds and bulky. This became almost like a 'mast' and would catch wind so safety was paramount. Had a close call once with a rogue wind in the evening time but luckily was working from a ladder that was well positioned.

I will simply point out, that a ladder is a sloped surface. People have a bad habit of falling off ladders with a variety of negative results.

Please people, if you're going to use a ladder, make sure the feet of it are on a stable surface and it can't tip sideways.

My friend made a wooden outrigger for a ladder he used for cleaning his eave troughs. He needed to move it frequently, so he didn't want to spend time fiddling with finding a way to tie off the top end in multiple 6 ft increments along the edge of the house. His outrigger system basically used a 2x4 to widen the base of the ladder.

No, it's not worth reaching for that one extra inch.

Yes, it's beneficial to practice using both hands for simple things like window cleaning. I have enough "ambidextrousness" to do a bunch of basic tasks with either hand. Some people struggle with that, but our system doesn't encourage it either. How do you fit that into your busy lifestyle? Simple things: if you always hold the plate in your left hand and wash it with your right, reverse the roles. It will take a little longer at the beginning, but if you find little ways to incorporate this into everyday tasks, hopefully it will get easier.  This *absolutely* is harder for some people than others!

On ladders, specifically, it's wise to stay vigilant about your footing, even on the bottom rungs. My son (26 or so, at the time) broke his ankle and torqued his knee badly, when a nearby sprinkler started, unexpectedly, wetting his feet and the ladder. He was almost down, when it hit him, and hurried the last couple steps, slipping as his foot hit the bottom rung.

My mom also lost her footing on the bottom rung of a step ladder, fell and injured both her hip and her knee. That was about 10 yrs ago, and her knee has given her trouble, ever since.

I just refuse to go on roofs, and try hard to stay off ladders, though my ladder phobia has finally eased enough that I'm fine now - just hyper-vigilant. As a fruit-picking teenager, in Michigan, I had too many of those rickety, 3legged leaders come out from under me.

Carla Burke wrote: As a fruit-picking teenager, in Michigan, I had too many of those rickety, 3legged leaders come out from under me.

Quality aluminium. 3 legged "orchard ladders" can be much safer on slopes than the alternatives. We have one that we use a lot. However, I'm not convinced they're all made as well as mine is, and not surprised you were exposed to some less than quality versions!

I've seen a new design that's even better than mine with an adjustable bar between the foot pads and the single leg opposite. Very pricey, and we'd only recently bought the one I still use, so as good as the design seemed, I felt I couldn't justify a new one.

Our roof is too steep to walk on - we have a ladder that will hook over the ridge so we can climb on that, but I would really like the security of extra protection with ropes. My husband recently bought a harness to use while topping trees, so when we come to redo the roof we can use it for that too. I was thinking of having a rope between the chimneys (stone chimney at either end of the roof) to fix to, but fixing to something on the ground sounds like a far better idea, thank you!

Pearl when you start out, the rope you're describing seems to be able to reach all the way to you from the other side of the house, and you're still standing on the ground.  So, as you climb up the ladder and the roof, how do you "shorten" the rope so that it will catch you if you fall?  It seems that there need to be loops all along the rope, and a shorter bit attached to you and you clip yourself to the main rope as you go up bit by bit?  

There are a variety of products out there, a lot of them steered towards companies that have to meet certain safety criteria and whatnot. I have seen full harnesses as well as half harnesses.

If you trust that your ladder and work surfaces are reinforced to where they would hold your weight if you were to slip you may get away with a lineman/hunter belt that has a short tether and two rated D-Rings to hook up the ladder/roof as you go.

Alder Burns wrote:Pearl when you start out, the rope you're describing seems to be able to reach all the way to you from the other side of the house, and you're still standing on the ground.  So, as you climb up the ladder and the roof, how do you "shorten" the rope so that it will catch you if you fall?  It seems that there need to be loops all along the rope, and a shorter bit attached to you and you clip yourself to the main rope as you go up bit by bit?  

However it works for you, depending on what you are dealing with. The point is to always have just enough rope you can work, and a short enough rope that it stops you before you can go over the edge.
I don't usually hook myself up until I'm at the top of the ladder. Then I keep either shifting it to a different loop, or tying loops into to shorten it as I go along. I also plan the pattern of my roof work to account for the fact I'm roped, so it's easiest to adjust the ropes as I go.
I'm a BIG fan of loops all along ropes, a lot of people say that shortens the rope too much. I just start with really long ropes and put my loops.