Most of the major injuries associated with falls are of less than two metres. The practice of working at height is also risky for those who might be standing below, through objects such as tools being dropped onto them and causing injury.
The Work at Height Regulations (2005) state that employers have a duty to assess the risks, plan and supervise all workers who work at height. The regulations require all employers to ensure that any task that is to be carried out at height has been properly planned, is fully supervised and is only carried out by those who are competent to do the work. They must also ensure that operatives receive thorough instructions and training, and that they are given all the necessary information required to carry out their tasks. The regulations cover everything from how workers access working at height to how they and their tools are prevented from falling to the ground.
It is essential that appropriate work equipment is selected and used, and that people working at a height are competent to do so. Equipment used for work at height must be properly inspected and maintained, while risks from fragile surfaces must be properly controlled.
Work must be planned, organised, supervised and carried out by competent persons, using the following five steps, as Adam Ward, product manager, PPE and workwear at Buck & Hickman, explains:
Avoid
“Wherever it is possible, work at height should be avoided, if there is a risk of serious injury associated with the work,” Ward says. “Can components or structures be brought to ground level or to a safe space for repair or maintenance, rather than working on them at height?”
Prevention of falls
“Clearly, the risk of falls is the greatest hazard associated with working at height,” he adds. “Both the worker above ground level and those below could be injured in the event of a fall, so preventative measures must be implemented where working at height cannot be avoided. Guard rails on scaffolding or mezzanine levels are an obvious solution, but in other situations harnesses and fall arrest systems may be appropriate as an extra control measure, particularly if the job at hand involves a lot of movement; is particularly high; or where the weather conditions are extreme.”
Mitigate falls
“In some situations, the risk of a fall cannot be eliminated entirely, even when correct preventative measures, including guard rails and personal protective equipment (PPE), are used,” he continues. “In such cases, it is vital to minimise the danger and consequences of a fall to both the individual working at height and those below. Minimising the distance of a potential fall is one preventative measure which can be implemented, as well as enforcing an exclusion zone on the ground to safeguard employees from being injured by falls from above.”
Training and awareness
“In addition to all the above actions, health & safety guidelines recommend erring on the side of caution and taking additional measures to contribute to fall prevention, if it is not reasonably practicable to avoid,” Ward explains. “This may include additional instruction and training for employees on safe working practices at height, and the correct use of PPE and safety apparatus, the demarcation of edges with painted lines, and fostering a safe culture in which employees are encouraged to identify instances of colleagues working unsafely and report them immediately.”
Protect those on the ground
“As well as the risk of falls, dropped tools or equipment can pose a serious risk of injury to workers and individuals on the ground or on levels below,” he concludes. “It is therefore recommended that protection schemes to prevent injuries to people below from dropped tools are set up – including securing all tools from falling and taking every precaution underneath workers to prevent any objects that are dropped from falling on those standing below (a claw hammer dropped from 6m is the equivalent of being dropped from the second floor of a building, attaining 24 mph/39kph on impact with an impact weight of 117kgs). If the workplace contains an area in which there is a risk of someone being struck by a falling object or person, ensure that the area is clearly indicated and that, as far as is reasonably practicable, unauthorised people are unable to access it.”
The right tools for the job
For those who do not work at height very often or are unsure about which type of access equipment to use, it is important that the risks are assessed and the right equipment for the job is selected. If it is a light duty task that will take less than 30 minutes and the task can be completed mostly with one hand, or temporary access to a fixed working platform is needed, a ladder, step ladder or combination ladder may be appropriate.
If the task is less than 3.8m high and two hands are needed to complete the job, a podium step or folding platform may be required, while for tasks above 3.8m or which need access in the same place for an extended period, a prefabricated scaffold tower may be suitable. If the work comprises several tasks up to 15.9m high and not all in the same place, the best solution may be a MEWP (Mobile Elevated Work Platform), cherry-picker or powered access equipment. Finally, for longer duration work at height in a fully guard-railed work zone with a larger work area and work load capacity, towers may be needed.
The overriding criteria when selecting equipment for work at height, Ward says, are: “Specify and use the most suitable equipment, with training provided, if required; give collective protection measures (eg, guard rails) priority over personal protection measures (eg, safety harnesses and fall arrest systems); and take account of the working conditions and risks to the safety of all those in the vicinity of where work equipment is to be used.”
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall that is liable to cause personal injury. It places duties on employers, the self-employed and any person who controls the work of others (such as facilities managers or building owners who may contract others to work at height), to the extent they control the work. It is the responsibility of all companies involved in working at height to know the law surrounding worker safety and dropped objects, and to follow it accordingly.
Don’t have your head in the clouds
More than a million businesses and ten million workers are estimated to carry out jobs at height every year, and the HSE sets out guidelines and useable advice to ensure businesses and employees are clear on what the law requires. Despite this, falls remain a cause of serious workplace injuries and something that cannot be ignored when it comes to protecting employees. With work at height often unavoidable, it’s important to assess and implement a set of good practices that minimise the risk. These range from ensuring employees are wearing the correct footwear, accounting for wind speeds when on an elevated platform, to regularly inspecting ladders and scaffold towers.
Although there are the overseeing guidelines set out by the HSE, most organisations choose to enhance these with their own safety precautions, such as specific kit inspection or buddy systems.
Of course, the first step in any safety process is preventative action, but, if an accident does occur, companies also need to have a quick and efficient emergency response in place. In many organisations, employees that frequently work at height are required to complete a two-yearly working at height and rescue course. Furthermore, even before entering a hazardous site, organisations can establish a paper trail, collecting contact details or providing the necessary emergency device that may be required.
A reliable method to protect employees is the buddy system that requires any employee working at height to be accompanied by another employee. In this case, if an accident did occur, the buddy would be able to call, raise an alarm and get help swiftly. This process depends on the employees having the correct emergency contacts readily available and, most importantly, a guaranteed mobile signal. If this isn’t the case, an alternative solution will need to be formulated.
If employees are working at height in an isolated environment, it’s likely that they won’t have any signal on their mobile phone to call for help. This can be a problem, even when working in pairs, as if one was rendered unconscious or became critically ill, how would the other person call for help or raise the alarm?
Organisations have a moral obligation to protect employees to the best of their ability. If an accident does occur, the safety measures don’t end there, as it’s also about the amount of time it takes to raise the alarm and the response time to an incident. With the appropriate communication infrastructure in place for the specific environment employees are working in, the process can be quick and efficient, ensuring the safety of all workers and the business.
Since the 1st of February, the UK has seen the introduction of the new Sentencing Guidelines for health and safety offences, which will overhaul the current policies. The most prominent change is that the range of financial penalties available to courts has been increased, especially in the case of magistrates’ courts.
This means that organisations may be leaving themselves financially at risk, if they are not putting suitable emergency responses in place. It’s fundamental therefore that the right equipment and procedures are integrated into a business, so that its workforce knows how to respond quickly in an emergency.