What this is
What is a roof work checklist?
What is a roof work checklist?
A pre-work and in-work check confirming a roof has been assessed for fragile areas and structural capacity, weather and wind are within limits, edge protection and anchor points are in place, and the area below is protected from falling materials.
How is a roof work checklist different from a ladder or scaffold check?
A ladder or scaffold check confirms a means of access is set up correctly. This checklist covers what happens once someone is on the roof: the surface underfoot, the edges, the weather, and the exclusion zone protecting people below, regardless of how they got up.
Why does the checklist assume fragility rather than test for it?
Because fragile roof lights and deteriorated cladding frequently cannot be distinguished from sound roof by sight, and a wrong assumption of soundness is not reversible once weight is put on it. The safer default is treating the roof as fragile until a survey says otherwise.
Scope
When is a roof work checklist required?
This checklist governs the work done once someone is on a roof. It assumes access is already authorised and does not itself decide whether a ladder, scaffold or podium was the right way to get there.
Use this template when
- Access, inspection or maintenance work is about to be carried out on a roof
- The roof includes, or may include, fragile elements such as roof lights or deteriorated sheeting
- A Roof Access Permit has been issued and this checklist is the on-roof step it authorises
- Roof-mounted plant, such as extract fans or condensers, needs isolating before people are exposed to it
- The site needs evidence that fragility, weather, edge protection and exclusion zones were checked before and after access
Do not use it for
- Ladder Safety Checklist, which covers getting a portable ladder set up correctly, not what happens once someone is on the roof it leads to
- Scaffold Inspection, which certifies an erected structure rather than the roof surface and edges themselves
- Anchor Point Register, which records anchor certification and test history, distinct from confirming a harness is tied to one on this job
- Fall Protection Plan, which sets the site- or job-wide fall strategy, of which this checklist is one operational step
- Confined roof voids, plant rooms or interior ceiling voids, which need their own confined space assessment
Compliance mapping
Which OSHA 1910 Subpart D requirements does this satisfy?
Walking-working surfaces regulation addresses roof work through several linked provisions rather than one, covering the surface, the edge, the anchor and training, so this checklist draws from more than one part of the standard.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| OSHA 1910.28(b)(13) | Employees on walking-working surfaces must be protected from falling through skylights and other roof holes by covers or guardrails | Before going up |
| OSHA 1910.22(a) | Walking-working surfaces must be kept clean, dry and free of hazards such as ice, frost or accumulated debris | Before going up |
| OSHA 1910.28(b)(1) | Fall protection is required at unprotected sides and edges four feet or more above a lower level | Access and protection |
| OSHA 1910.29 | Guardrail systems and covers used as fall protection must meet specified height, strength and marking criteria | Access and protection |
| OSHA 1910.140 | Personal fall protection systems, including anchorages, must meet specified strength and use criteria | Access and protection |
| OSHA 1910.30 | Employees exposed to fall hazards must be trained to recognise and control them before exposure | Before going up |
| OSHA 1910.22(a) | Housekeeping of the walking surface must be maintained, including on completion of work | After |
What it does not cover
- Roof Access Permit, the authorisation for the work to happen at all, against which this checklist's Permit ID should trace back.
- Ladder Safety Checklist, which covers safe use of the portable ladder that may be the means of reaching or leaving the roof.
- Scaffold Inspection, which certifies a scaffold structure rather than the roof surface, edges and exclusion zone this checklist addresses.
- Anchor Point Register, which records that an anchor is certified and current, distinct from confirming a harness was tied to one during this job.
- Fall Protection Plan, which sets out rescue arrangements and site-wide fall strategy this checklist assumes are already in place.
Global
Roof Work Checklist requirements by country
The duty to control roof-specific hazards, rather than height in general, is treated with unusual specificity in the United Kingdom, where fragile-roof deaths have driven dedicated guidance.
OSHA 1910 Subpart D, Walking-Working Surfaces
Fall protection, hole and skylight coverage, and anchorage criteria are specified in linked but separate provisions.
A finding can cite the specific missing control, such as a skylight without a cover, rather than a general failure to protect against falls.
Work at Height Regulations 2005; HSE guidance on fragile roof surfaces
Fragile surfaces must be identified and either made safe, covered, or worked from a position not reliant on the surface bearing weight.
HSE treats fragile roof falls as a distinct, named hazard category and expects method statements to address it explicitly.
ISO 45001, clause 6.1.2; ISO 14122
Management system requirement to identify hazards proactively, applied to a hazard, fragile surfacing, not always visually apparent.
Auditors look for evidence the fragility assessment is a distinct, documented step rather than assumed from the roof's appearance.
How to complete it
How to complete a roof work checklist, step by step
Most fields resolve to pass or fail against a fixed criterion. The judgement calls sit in how those answers were reached and what they are allowed to assume.
Fragile Areas Identified should be answered against a current look at the roof plan and the surface, including areas the crew might reach for tools rather than walk. A crew who has worked the roof before answers from memory, and memory is what ages out as cladding deteriorates or a roof light gets painted over.
Weather Checked and Wind Within Limits are answered at access, but conditions on an exposed roof change faster than on the ground. Treat a worsening forecast or a visible wind change as grounds to stop and re-check, not rely on the start-of-job answer.
Roof Plant Isolated and Plant Returned To Service are not symmetrical. Isolating before work is a precaution; returning it afterwards, particularly ammonia condensers on food-site roofs, needs an actual check the area is clear and the restart is safe.
Ground Level Exclusion Zone Set should be sized against tools and fragments that could fall from the working area, usually wider than the task's footprint. A zone drawn tightly around the crew protects against the wrong failure mode.
What auditors find
Most common roof work checklist findings
Because several fields are knockouts, findings cluster around fragility, edge protection and the exclusion zone rather than spreading evenly across the form.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Fragile Areas Identified marked None Present based on familiarity with the roof rather than a current survey against the roof plan. | OSHA 1910.28(b)(13) | Require the survey to reference the roof plan each time, not the crew's recollection of previous visits. |
| Edge Protection In Place marked Yes for protection that does not meet guardrail height or strength criteria, such as a low parapet treated as sufficient. | OSHA 1910.29 | Verify edge protection against the guardrail specification rather than accepting any barrier as adequate. |
| Harness Attached To Certified Anchor recorded as Pass with the Anchor Reference field left blank, so the anchor's certification cannot be traced. | OSHA 1910.140 | Make Anchor Reference mandatory whenever a harness is used, and reject anchors that cannot be matched to a current certification. |
| Ground Level Exclusion Zone Set answered without accounting for materials being lifted or lowered, only for the crew's working position. | OSHA 1910.28(b)(1) | Size the exclusion zone to the potential drop radius of tools and materials, not to the crew's standing position. |
| Roof Plant Isolated ticked before work but Plant Returned To Service closed without confirming the area was clear or the restart sequence followed. | OSHA 1910.22(a) | Require a specific clear-and-restart confirmation before plant is returned to service. |
| Weather Checked and Wind Within Limits answered once at the start of a multi-hour job, with no re-check despite a visible change in conditions. | OSHA 1910.22(a) | Set a re-check trigger, a time interval or a visible weather change, rather than treating the initial answer as valid throughout. |
Case in point
Case in point: the roof that had been walked a hundred times
A maintenance crew at a food processing site went up to clear debris from roof-mounted extract louvres, a job done on the same roof several times before. The checklist was completed as usual: fragile areas none present, edge protection in place, plant isolated, and the crew moved toward the louvres along a route they had used before.
One member stepped onto a roof light painted over during a re-coating project eighteen months earlier and no longer reading as glass. He fell through, sustaining serious injuries. The light had not been resurveyed since the re-coating, and fragility had been answered from memory of the route: a roof walked safely many times was assumed to still be the roof it had been, and nothing in the sequence, checklist, permit or plan, required the survey to repeat after a change that altered how the roof looked without altering how it should have been treated.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
5 sections
- Reference
- SAF-104
- Archetype
- Checklist
- Record ID
- CHK-2026-000
- Scoring
- Complete with knockout items
- Direction
- High is good
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- OSHA 1910 Subpart D
- Links
- Links Site, Permit
- Tags
- Height, Task
- Sections
- 5
- Fields
- 40
- Follow up fields
- 3
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 4
Header
9 fieldsCheck ID*
Auto sequence. Format CHK-2026-00000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Assume It Is Fragile
Roof lights and old cladding look the same as the sound sheet beside them. Falls through fragile roofs kill people every year, and almost all of them believed the surface was safe.
Roof Area*
Permit ID
Links to SAF-056 Permit ID
Before going up
8 fieldsRoof Plan Reviewed*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Fragile Areas Identified*
- Yes3 pts
- None present3 pts
- No, not checked0 pts
Structural Capacity Known*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Weather Checked*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Surface Free Of Ice Frost Or Moss*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Wind Within Limits*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Roof Plant Isolated*
Ammonia condensers and extract fans sit on food plant roofs.
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Extract Discharge Points Known*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Access and protection
9 fieldsSafe Access Route Used*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Edge Protection In Place*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Fragile Areas Covered Or Barriered*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Crawling Boards Used Where Needed
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Harness Attached To Certified Anchor
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Anchor Reference
Links to SAF-102 Anchor Reference
Ground Level Exclusion Zone Set*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Tools Tethered*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Second Person Present*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
After
3 fieldsRoof Left Clear*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Access Point Secured*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Plant Returned To Service*
- Pass2 pts
- Partial1 pt
- Fail0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Result
11 fieldsItems Assessed*
Excludes anything marked N/A.
Items Failed*
Score Percent*
Calculated on submission. High is good. N/A items leave the denominator.
Result Band*
- Pass3 pts
- Caution1 pt
- Fail0 pts
Completeness Percent*
How much of the template was actually answered. A high score on a half completed form is not a high score.
Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Supervisor*
Signature*
SAF-104 · record IDs look like CHK-2026-000 · Links Site, Permit
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The checklist covers one visit to the roof. What fails around it is the survey never repeated, the plant restart never verified, and the exclusion zone that shrank to fit convenience.
Holds the checklist against the permit and anchor register, and blocks closure where a harness answer has no traceable anchor reference.
Tracks roof-mounted plant isolation and restart events, so those fields can be verified against an actual equipment record.
Applies the same fragility and edge-protection checks to contractor crews, so the survey requirement does not weaken when the crew changes.
Flags roofs where fragility has not been resurveyed since a recorded change, such as re-coating, and raises the review before the next access.
This template lives in KnowSafe — safety and compliance. Incidents, hazards, permits, inspections and the critical controls behind them.
Meet KnowSafe→Glossary
Roof Work Checklist definitions and key terms
- Fragile roof
- A roof surface, such as a roof light or deteriorated sheeting, that cannot be relied on to bear a person's weight and often cannot be told apart from sound roof by sight.
- Edge protection
- A guardrail, parapet or barrier meeting a specified height and strength that prevents a fall at an unprotected roof edge.
- Guardrail system
- A fall protection system built to defined height, strength and marking criteria, distinct from any physical barrier that happens to be present.
- Certified anchor point
- A fall-arrest anchorage tested and rated to a known standard, recorded in an anchor point register and traceable by reference.
- Exclusion zone
- A cordoned ground-level area, sized to the potential drop path of tools or materials, kept clear of people during work above.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about roof work checklist
How do we know if a roof surface is fragile?+
Assume it is until the roof plan or a current survey says otherwise. Roof lights and re-coated surfaces frequently cannot be told apart from sound roof by sight, which is why fragility is a question to answer fresh, not a fact recalled from a previous visit.
Is edge protection always required?+
Wherever there is an unprotected edge at a height meeting the fall protection threshold, four feet in general industry. Where it genuinely cannot be installed, the work needs an alternative such as a fall arrest system tied to a certified anchor, not proceeding without either.
What if there is no certified anchor point on the roof?+
The work should not proceed using a harness tied to an uncertified point. Either an anchor is certified before the job, or the task uses edge protection and access methods that do not depend on personal fall arrest.
Does the checklist replace the permit?+
No. The Roof Access Permit authorises the work; this checklist confirms on-roof conditions, fragility, weather, edge protection and exclusion zone, at the point access happens. Permit ID links the two records rather than one standing in for the other.
What weather conditions stop roof work?+
Wind beyond the task's stated limit, moisture that makes the surface slick, and ice or frost. Limits should be stated numerically for wind rather than left to judgement, because judgement is where marginal conditions get waved through.
Who completes the roof work checklist?+
The supervisor, together with the crew, immediately before access. A supervisor completing it alone, without the crew who will be on the roof, misses observations, an area that looks different today, a route now obstructed, that only the people going up would notice.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Permit to Work
Contractor Permit Compliance Check
Checks that a contractor working under permit is doing what the permit says, at the work point
Hot Work Permit
Controls welding, cutting, grinding and any work that makes sparks or heat
Confined Space Entry Permit
Controls entry into tanks, pits, silos and other confined spaces
Energy Isolation Permit
Controls work where machinery must be shut down and locked out
Working at Height Permit
Controls work above the height set by local rules where fall protection is needed
Excavation Permit
Controls digging and trenching, including checks for buried services
More in Height Work
Fall Protection Plan
Sets out how falls are prevented or arrested for a site or a specific job, including anchor points and rescue
Ladder Safety Checklist
Steps through safe ladder use, from choosing the right ladder to setting the angle and maintaining three points of contact
Scaffold Inspection
Checks scaffold is erected correctly, tagged, complete and undamaged
Anchor Point Register
Records every certified anchor point, its rating, location and last test date
Rescue Plan
Sets out how a suspended or trapped worker will be reached and recovered, and how quickly
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- OSHA 1910 Subpart D — sections 1910.22, 1910.28, 1910.29, 1910.30, 1910.140
- Work at Height Regulations 2005 (UK), regulation 9 and fragile surfaces guidance
- HSE guidance on the dangers of fragile roofs and roof work
- ISO 45001:2018, clause 6.1.2
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.