Façade Access and Fall Protection -- Designed Systems or Afterthought?
(Room Texas Ballroom, Salon H, Level 4)
30 Mar 20
2:15 PM
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3:45 PM
The rules and regulations governing safety requirements for workers exposed to occupational hazards associated with walking-working surfaces are often misunderstood by building owners, design consultants, employers, employees, and third-party contractors. Owners are not always clear what is required, and traditional design consultants are often not comfortable specifying these systems. Due to this issue, façade access and fall protection systems frequently become an afterthought instead of being included in pre-design discussions and considerations.
This presentation will discuss the regulations and industry best practices associated with façade access and fall protection systems. It will also address the role of the design consultant in specifying these systems and recommended methods to streamline coordination challenges among the parties.
A façade access case study for the Las Vegas Convention Center project will be presented to demonstrate the benefit of early coordination. With 120-foot-tall curtainwalls at the 220-foot-wide porte cochere, 60-foot-tall curtainwalls along the remainder of the 600-foot-long building front, and a continuous undulating ribbon overhang that extends 8 to 12 feet from the exterior face of the building, designing systems for routine façade access and maintenance of the center was a challenge. The case study will highlight the successful processes used by the design and construction team to produce safe, efficient, and OSHA-compliant access at elevated building areas.