What are safety nets and what are they used for on construction sites
Safety nets are a collective protection system against falls from height, designed to stop the fall of a person or objects in work areas where it is not possible or not sufficient to install a guardrail or other edge protection element. They are used mainly on facades, floor openings and structural edges during the structure and enclosure phase.
Royal Decree 1627/1997 establishes the minimum safety and health provisions for construction works, including the requirement to collectively protect risks of falls from height before resorting to individual protection, safety nets are one of the usual solutions to comply with this requirement when work takes place at the edge of a structure.
Regulations governing safety nets
The UNE-EN 1263 standard sets the technical requirements for manufacturing and the installation conditions of safety nets, depending on the specifications of each manufacturer. Along with it, Royal Decree 1627/1997 sets the general framework for safety and health on construction sites that requires adopting collective protection measures against falls from height.
Complying with the UNE-EN 1263 standard is not optional or a matter of added quality: it is the technical reference standard against which it is assessed whether a safety net installation meets the required standards.
System V: safety net with gallows
System V is a safety net with perimeter rope secured to an L-shaped inverted support, known as a gallows or cantilever, which is fixed to the permanent structural elements of the building. It is installed and used in a vertical position, and is common on facades during structural execution, when there is still no enclosure protecting the edge.
Systems S, T and U: other safety net configurations
System S is a safety net with perimeter rope designed for horizontal use, typically under a slab under construction. System T is secured by cantilever brackets also for horizontal use, and is usually used when it is not possible to anchor directly to the permanent structure. System U is fixed to its own supporting structure and is used as intermediate protection between floors, useful on projects with several levels being executed simultaneously.
The choice between one system and another depends on the project phase, the type of structure and the available anchor points, these are not interchangeable systems, each responds to a different risk configuration.
When to inspect and replace safety nets
Safety nets must be inspected periodically during their service life on site: check the condition of the mesh, perimeter ropes and anchors, and verify that they have not suffered damage from impact, prolonged weather exposure or material degradation. The manufacturer itself usually sets a maximum service life for the net, regardless of whether it appears to be in good condition at first glance.
A damaged safety net does not fulfill its protection function even if it remains installed: maintaining a record of when each net was installed and when its inspection or replacement is due is what prevents relying on the memory of whoever installed it.
How Bloqbase supports the control of collective protections
Bloqbase can help keep track of which areas of a project have safety nets or other collective protections installed, with the installation and scheduled inspection dates, instead of depending on informal site control.
The software does not replace the judgment of the safety and health coordinator or the responsibility to install the appropriate protection system for each project phase: that technical decision remains with the project prevention team.