Edge Protection Systems
HERMEQ edge protection systems are temporary guardrail for the open edges of buildings and civil works, tested to meet ANSI and OSHA requirements. The barrier is a mesh panel, the most widely accepted design, and its Z-type profile is compatible with other Z-type systems. Panels are galvanized and then powder coated, and they can be finished in your company colors with corporate branding (minimum order quantities apply). Attachments fix the system to concrete, steel frames, pilings, bridges and other structures. Each barrier is built in a 3-2-2 wire formation with an integrated toe board, which gives protection against a falling worker and against material striking the panel.
Components of an edge protection system
A run has three working parts: posts, mesh barriers and the slider brackets that join them, with a taller barrier added where an edge calls for more height.
Mesh edge protection barriers
The mesh edge protection barrier is the panel that closes the open edge between two posts. It drops onto the posts by hand, without tools, and one galvanized steel mesh panel does the work of the top rail and midrail in a traditional built-up guardrail, so a run goes up with far fewer loose parts.
Edge protection posts
Edge protection posts carry the barriers and lock into their footing or attachment with a pop button, so they go in and come out without tools and move from one floor or job to the next. The range has a standard post for normal edge height and a taller post that takes the height extension barrier, and the choice between the two depends on how high the protection on that edge has to be.
Slider brackets
Slider brackets hold each barrier to its post and stop the panel from being lifted off once they are fixed. Because a slider can be set anywhere along the post, it also sets the barrier height, which matters on stepped slabs and wherever the walking surface is not level with the post footing.
Height extension barriers
Where the standard 43 in edge is not enough, the height extension barrier slots over the taller posts above the standard panel and raises protection to 67 in. Projects choose it where a specification or regulation calls for protection above standard height, and where tools, debris or people could otherwise go over the top of a standard barrier.
Guardrail post attachments for each structure type
Posts and barriers stay the same on every job, and the attachment under each post is what changes, chosen by the structure the edge is built from.
Concrete slabs, parapets and walls
On a cast floor or deck, the bolted foot attachment fixes a post to any horizontal surface with a single bolt, and it is the usual fixing on reinforced concrete frames and civil work. Pull test the anchor in the concrete you are fixing into before the run goes into service, because the bolt holds only as well as the slab around it. Where the slab must not be drilled, such as a post-tensioned deck or a finished surface, the adjustable clamp attachment grips the edge instead, horizontally on a slab or vertically on a parapet or wall, and its coarse thread tightens and releases quickly.
Steel frames: flange or web
Steel frames take one of two attachments, and the choice depends on whether the beams are drilled. The I-beam flange clamp grips the beam flange with a threaded bar and nut, adjusts to the flange width and leaves no holes in the steel, so it suits frames where the beams are already set. The steel beam web attachment bolts through pre-drilled holes in the beam web and allows a different erection sequence: the crew fits posts and barriers to each beam at ground level before the crane lifts it, so the edge is protected as soon as the steel is set and nobody stands at an open edge to install the guardrail. Its extendable arm also fits slab edges and walls.
Timber formwork beams
Elevated decks formed on timber beams need protection before any concrete is placed. The timber formwork beam attachment fixes to timber soffit beams and proprietary forming systems by hammering in a wedge, and it is made for two flange thicknesses, so match it to the beams on the job.
Sheet piling, trench sheets and steel shoring
Excavations retained by steel need guardrail along the top of the sheets. The sheet pile clamp closes onto the full thickness of sheet piles, trench sheets and narrow concrete walls with a coarse-thread nut, and it comes in two socket versions to match the posts in use. The steel shoring clamp uses a threaded pin that bites onto steel forms and sheet piling around openings, which makes it a simple fixing for edges that are set and taken down often as the excavation advances.
Stair edges and stair cores
Stair cores are where guardrail is most often taken down, because the posts sit where nosings and finishes have to go. The stairway attachment sets the post out from the stair edge and grips the concrete with biting points, so the barrier stays in place while nosings are fitted, finishes are poured and edges are detailed. Handholds along the flight are a separate job, covered by our handrail systems.
Temporary guardrail on slab, roof, shaft and bridge edges
The same system protects most open edges on a building or civil project, though what matters changes from one edge to the next.
Floor slab perimeters on multi-story frames
The slab perimeter is the longest run on a multi-story residential or commercial frame, and it goes up floor by floor ahead of glazing, cladding and mechanical and electrical work. Standard height covers most perimeters, and the run often stays until the facade closes the edge. Where material could fall outside the line of the edge, safety fans fitted below the working floor catch it before it reaches the ground.
Elevator shafts, stairwells and service openings
Elevator shafts, stair voids and openings left for mechanical and electrical risers are short runs with a corner on every side, and they stay open long after the slab edge is closed in. Until the permanent stair is usable, temporary stairways give crews a protected route between levels.
Roof edges and mechanical room perimeters
Roof access projects and mechanical room perimeters often have no scaffold, so guardrail fixed to the roof slab or parapet is what protects the edge. Work at a roof edge is usually short and moves along it, with roofers, HVAC crews and inspectors following one another, and tool-free posts let the run move with the work.
Bridges, piling and infrastructure work
Bridge decks, piling platforms and excavations retained by sheet piles produce long, straight runs that move as the work advances, often outdoors for a full season. The high-visibility finish marks the edge for heavy equipment operators as well as workers on foot.
Specifying, finishing and storing a modular guardrail run
Once the structure and the fixing are known, a run is specified by counting its parts, choosing its finish and planning how it travels between jobs.
Making up a run
A run is counted from the length of each open edge. Divide each straight edge by the barrier length given on the product page and round up, then allow one more post than barriers on each straight edge and an extra post at every corner and change of direction. Each post needs an attachment matched to the structure beneath it and sliders to hold its barriers, so both counts follow the post count. Fix the points where materials will be landed before setting out, since moving a run later leaves an edge open while the work is done.
Finish, color and branding
Stock colors suit a fleet that moves between many jobs and clients, while a branded finish identifies a contractor's own equipment on shared sites and makes it easier to recover at the end of a job.
Storage and transport between jobs
The edge protection storage rack holds barriers in a galvanized steel frame that a forklift can lift, stack and load onto a truck. Racked panels stay together and easy to count, and stacked racks take up less of the yard between jobs.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. A guardrail system is collective fall protection: it stops anyone from reaching the open edge and protects every worker on that level at once, with no harness or lanyard for each person to wear. OSHA recognizes guardrail systems, alongside safety nets and personal fall arrest systems, as a way of protecting workers at unprotected sides and edges.
The components are tested to ANSI requirements for temporary edge protection and designed for OSHA guardrail requirements. That performance applies to a complete installation of posts, barriers and sliders on the attachment suited to the structure, set up as the product pages describe. Inspect a run after it has been moved or struck by material, and replace any damaged part before the edge is used again.
It is temporary guardrail for the construction phase, designed to be installed, taken down and reused across many jobs. A run can be moved as floors are completed and removed once the permanent edge, such as a wall, parapet or railing, is in place.
Yes. The barrier follows the standard Z design, so it is interchangeable with HERMEQ posts and with similar Z-type systems, and a contractor with an existing fleet can add panels without replacing posts. Sliders and attachments are made for HERMEQ posts, so check the post size before mixing them with posts from another system.
A handrail gives people a handhold along a stair, ramp or walkway as they move. Edge protection is a barrier along an open edge that stops a person or material from going over it. A stair under construction often needs both: guardrail along its open side and a handrail along the flight.