A reliable and durable protection for McGill University

This historic building gets their roof safe with Delta Prevention

The Ferrier historic building of the McGill University was built in 1909 as a power plant to provide in electricity the campus in the first place but as of today, it also serves as classrooms. To secure the roof access to this establishment, the project manager of the renovations asked help from the MSK Canada specialists.

Initial situation :

The Ferrier building already needed to change every ventilation unit to combine into one air handling unit in order to centralize and facilitate the ventilation and heating system and subsequently operation of maintenance. It also helps to reduce long-term costs. However, the project manager decided to protect some dangerous access on the roof to make them safer. Following the analysis, the expert noticed 3 different spots that were particularly at risks for the employees.

Constraints :

The ventilation units on the roof was too close to the edge and it was dangerous for the maintenance workers. The step over platform was adopted to bypass the ventilation unit which was way too close than the regular 2 metres standards from the edge. In addition, the edge a little higher, so we needed to adjust in height the fall protection system with custom materials to avoid any fall hazard.

Objectives :

The purpose of these installations was obviously a better roof protection which is both sides of the step over platform and the transition from the Ferrier roof building to another. The contractor was worried about the step over platform because it was very close to the edge and compromised the access for ventilation units. The main reason for these upgrades were to increase accessibility and safety on different parts located on the roof.

The solution :

The chosen solution was to use two 20-foot-long VSS Classic freestanding guardrails. The first one was used for the transition from a roof to another and the second one was for the aluminum ship stairs. Finally, a custom 15-foot-long VSS Classic was used for the other aluminum ship stairs. The whole project was turnkey, thanks to MSK Canada for the risk assessment, the proposition, the materials, the transport and the labour.

MSK Canada has been a leader in space optimization for over 25 years. Whether it’s in the automotive, industrial or commercial market, the experts at MSK will design, plan and recommend the best products to maximize your space and your productivity. Visit our website at www.mskcanada.com/en.