Assembly of a safety rail for an access hatch

A safety rail assembly for an access hatch of a kind comprising a hatch frame which defines an opening, said safety rail assembly being adapted to extend around at least a part of a hatch frame thereby to safeguard personnel from inadvertent entry into the hatch opening, said safety rail assembly comprising guard members which in use extend at least in part substantially horizontally, elongate rigid interconnection members which in use extend substantially horizontally around the hatch frame, support members for supporting the guard members at a position elevated above the hatch frame, said support members each having associated therewith a foot portion for resting in a free-standing manner on a support surface surrounding the hatch frame, and said support members each having secured thereto a connector device for securing an end region of one interconnection member relative to an end region of another of the interconnection members, and each said interconnection member having a spacer member secured thereto at a position which lies spaced from the nearest connector device by a distance which is at least 10% of the length of the interconnection member between a pair of the connector devices, each said spacer member comprising a tubular body portion having retention means by which the spacer member is secured to an interconnection member extending through said body portion, a head portion in the form of a plate for bearing in use firmly against a substantially vertical outwardly facing surface of the hatch frame and a neck portion which extends between the head and body portions with the head portion lying in a plane which is substantially parallel with the major, longitudinal axis of the body portion.