Southern Projects has pledged its support for the National Federation of Roofing Contractors' (NFRC) 'Don't Fall for Fragile' campaign, reinforcing our commitment to safer planning and access whenever our teams are working at height.
Why NFRC launched the campaign
NFRC launched Don't Fall for Fragile in June 2026, following its earlier Cut the Dust campaign on airborne silica. The message is deliberately blunt: a roof that looks solid can still fail without warning. As NFRC puts it, "a roof that looks safe may not be safe" — the campaign asks the industry to step back and plan rather than assume a surface will hold.
The scale of the problem
The risk behind the campaign is well documented. HSE's provisional figures for 2025/26 record 126 work-related deaths in Great Britain, 31 of them from falls from height, and construction remains the industry with the highest fatality count, at 25 deaths. Within that, HSE guidance shows falls through fragile surfaces, particularly fibre-cement sheets and rooflights, account for 22% of all fall-from-height fatalities in construction.
Much of that risk sits outside major re-roofing projects. HSE notes that short-term maintenance, inspection and cleaning work is over-represented in the injury figures, precisely because it is the kind of job most likely to be treated as routine.
What counts as a fragile surface
HSE guidance lists the materials most likely to fail under a person’s weight:
- Fibre-cement sheets and rooflights
- Liner panels on sheeted roofs
- Corroded or damaged metal sheets
- Glass, including wired glass
- Rotted chipboard and wood wool slabs
- Slates, tiles and weathered or repaired surfaces that hide weak areas beneath
HSE’s principle is simple: every roof should be treated as fragile until a competent person has confirmed otherwise.
Our pledge
By signing the pledge, Southern Projects has committed to:
- Identifying fragile risks
- Planning before access
- Using collective protection first
- Controlling rooflight risk
- Using harnesses correctly
Turning the pledge into practice
These commitments sit alongside the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which set out a clear hierarchy: avoid work at height where it can reasonably be avoided, use collective protection such as guardrails and platforms ahead of relying on individual fall-arrest equipment, and make sure everyone involved is trained, briefed and coordinated before work starts. It’s the same approach that underpinned our Gold award in the NFRC Health, Safety and Environment in Roofing Awards 2025, recognised in particular for workforce engagement on safety.
Talk to Southern Projects
If you’re planning roofing or building envelope work and want a contractor that treats fragile roof risk as a planning issue rather than an afterthought, get in touch with Southern Projects.