Health And Safety

Falls are the biggest cause of deaths in workplaces in Britain. 53 people died in 2004-05, nearly 3,800 suffered major injury such as broken bones or fractured skulls.

You do not have to fall far to be hurt, a fall from below head height caused 7 deaths and 2,247 major injuries.

In the vast majority of cases, falls from height are due to poor management control and not equipment failure. In most cases employers have failed to recognise a problem and have not introduced an appropriate safe system for working at height.

Where there is a procedure often no checks are made to ensure that it is followed and steps are not taken to ensure that staff are provided with sufficient training and instruction.
What is ‘Work at Height’?

Picture of how not to use a ladderWorking at height describes work undertaken “off the ground”. Commonly, it involves the use of scaffolds, ladders, hoists, gantries or general roof work.
What does the law say?

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places a duty on employers to take reasonable care of the health and safety of their workers and others who may be affected by his/her acts or omissions.

The Working at Height Regulations 2005, came into force on the 16th April 2005 and require duty holders to ensure:

* All work at height is properly planned and organized. * Those involved in work at height are competent. * The risks from work at height are assessed and appropriate work equipment is selected and used. * The risks from fragile surfaces are properly controlled. * Equipment for work at height is properly inspected and maintained.

Within the regulations there is a simple hierarchy for managing and selecting equipment for work at height. Duty holders must:

* avoid work at height where they can; * use work equipment or other measures to prevent falls where they cannot avoid working at height; and * where they cannot eliminate the risk of a fall, use work equipment or other measures to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall should one occur.

The HSE’s key messages to duty holders are:

* those following good practice for work at height now should already be doing enough to comply with these Regulations; * follow the risk assessments you have carried out for work at height activities and make sure all work at height is planned, organised and carried out by competent persons; * follow the hierarchy for managing risks from work at height – take steps to avoid, prevent or reduce risks; and * choose the right work equipment and select collective measures to prevent falls (such as guardrails and working platforms) before other measures which may only mitigate the distance and consequences of a fall (such as nets or airbags) or which may only provide personal protection from a fall.