A head for heights12 February 2013

Falls from height cause half of major injuries in the workplace, with most accidents occurring from a very unspectacular two metres or below. Max Gosney asks why the Working at Height Regulations are so badly misunderstood.

A desperate shout followed by the awful crack of bone hitting concrete. Operators turn to see a man laying fatally injured on the shopfloor. This tragic scene does not play out on a line making towering ocean liners or soaring cranes, but one producing cardboard boxes standing less than a metre high.

"Manufacturers think it won't happen to them until it's too late," warns Mark Welsh, the HSE inspector who helped prosecute Hull-based packaging firm Garthwest for the safety failings in the tragic incident described above.

Kevin Jackson, a father of five, fell through a rooflight to his death while cleaning the gutters at Garthwest's Hull factory. "Garthwest had all the processes and procedures in place around working at height that HSE would expect," says Welsh. "The problem was they didn't follow any of them."

So a cleaning contractor was left to carry out a job without performing a risk assessment first. No checks were made on safety equipment or the progress of the job. "Garthwest had regulations where you had to be using a crawling board for work on the roof," says Welsh. "But when the fatality happened they hadn't made any reasonable attempts to check the work was being carried out in a safe and reasonable manner."

Confusion reigns
Statistics indicate that most of you will be squirming at Garthwest's story. The Working at Height Regulations 2005 are poorly understood, by HSE's own admission. A recommendation to the regulator's board, seen by this magazine, notes widespread "misinterpretation", with SMEs particularly bemused. Any sniggers about filling out risk assessments to change lightbulbs mask a deep misunderstanding of which activities fall under the legislation's remit.

"The Lofstedt review of health and safety asked us to look at the guidance to check it wasn't leading people to go beyond what was proportionate," says Paul Cook, HSE policy advisor. "We've actually found people aren't doing enough to comply with the law."

Fundamentally, the Working at Height Regulations require employers to do three key things: plan any task to be carried out at height; make sure that task is properly supervised; and ensure it's performed in a safe way 'so far as is reasonably practicable' with the right safety equipment.

It all sounds simple until you hit the ambiguous concept of height. "Quite often, I go into a manufacturing firm and they'll say, 'We don't do work at height'," reflects HSE inspector, Welsh. "I'll look about for a few moments and say, 'Do you go up there on that mezzanine floor?' or 'Do you vent out those taps up there?' It's only then that it suddenly dawns on the manufacturer."

Back in the day, traditionalists will argue, there was no room for interpretation. Before the arrival of the Working at Height Regulations there was a two-metre rule. Anything below this threshold wasn't working at height. But nostalgia about the good old days and bemoaning health and safety gone mad doesn't really stack up with the statistics. Since 2005, fatal falls are down 25%, falls resulting in absences of over three days are down by 20%, and major injuries from falls by 12%.

No height limit
"Whether it's a short height or a high height, the only thing the fall relies on is gravity," comments Welsh. Deaths have occurred from as little as 4ft (1.2m), he reflects. "All that's happened is they've fallen backwards and smashed their head on some pipes... You can die falling from 4ft and survive from 40ft. There are no hard and fast rules."

Now you've had an epiphany over injuries occurring at the most innocuous heights, it's time to take another look at your site. Welsh advises: "Use a shutdown period to set some time aside to go and look around. Talk to the workers about what they're doing – are the safety protocols being followed?"

Headache-free assessments
Risk assessments should be seen as your first line of defence for preventing falls. The documents have been misinterpreted as Tolstoy-sized manuscripts. Size is not a critical factor, assures Welsh. "Quite often, one side of A4 will suffice. It needs to pick out the risks involved with a task and discuss how they'll be mitigated."

The regulator preaches a Ronseal-style approach to assessing any hazardous tasks, with pertinent questions including who might be harmed and how, what you are already doing to mitigate the risk and what else you might need to do.

HSE wants to see evidence that you're taking the risk seriously, so put something in writing that identifies immediate and long-term risks. List potential safety-boosting improvements and who will be responsible for checking they are implemented. Your risk assessments should never be allowed to gather dust. Plans should be reviewed regularly to account for new machinery, personnel and suggestions from frontline employees.
Workforce buy-in

Once the theory is in place, it's time for the altogether different challenge of putting it into practice. "Easier said than done," comments Welsh. "It's the same principle as getting your workforce to address a quality issue – how would you deal with that?"

Delegation and empowerment definitely help, as demonstrated by block and concrete paving manufacturer, Marshalls in Halifax. "It's huge," says Marshalls' maintenance chief Bruce Farrar of the focus on working at height. "We put a lot of work in because we are using large machinery. But we've also had people stumble and twist their ankle from six inches off the floor."

Marshalls' maintenance engineers employ dynamic risk assessments – two-page documents adapted from those used in hazardous sectors like power stations. If a task is rated high or medium risk, it can't be attempted until the operator takes contingent actions to reduce the threat to low – if not, the task won't begin. Instead, the operator will raise a post-task query. The assessments are supported by an open and inclusive approach to solving safety issues, stresses Farrar.

"Risk assessments are only as good as how they are interpreted," he comments. "Everyone is formally trained to operate this system as it takes the risk assessment to the point where it has to be fully understood and operational, rather than left sitting on a shelf."

Overcoming the macho culture
Don't expect hands to shoot up straight away though, warns Mike Horrocks, country safety manager for UK & Ireland at safety equipment supplier, Capital Safety. A macho culture still prevails in many a factory, he says. "The workforce on the frontline believe they are invincible. Accidents are something that happen to other people. They'll often view height and safety equipment as something restrictive, something that will slow the job down."

Changing mindsets mean plenty of reassurance that the pedantic won't be punished. Horrocks says: "The workforce have to speak up. The employer has a duty of care but the employee has one, too." It might be worth reminding those more stubborn members of staff that HSE can prosecute individuals for flagrant safety breaches just as readily as employers (see box, p43).

The right safety kit
With the workforce on side, you're likely to identify a wealth of safety kit to counter the risk of falls. Some gadgets look straight out of Q's research laboratory, with James Bond-style advanced fall arrest systems and harnesses that allow you to descend from daunting heights. However, measures don't have to be complex or expensive. Tagging systems like Scafftag involve hanging coloured information cards around equipment, which require employees to heed safety information and inspection data before use. A pack of 10 Scafftag cards will set you back £48.

Harnesses begin at a similar price, according to safety supplier Arco. But look before you leap from the factory wall, advises Jenny Sims, product manager at Arco. "It's no good walking around on the roof thinking, 'I'm wearing a harness so I'm safe' if you're not anchored properly." The oversight is common and Arco advises buying a kit including an anchor (from £50) if you don't have anything suitable on site.

Whatever the shape, size and price tag of your new safety kit, it's vital to train employees properly on its use. Failure to do so could see the kit ignored or, worse, used in an unsafe way. Most suppliers will offer training; costs range from £100 per head per day. Arco has a mobile training bus that can deliver City & Guilds certified training from £300 per day plus the trainer's fee. Factor in the cost of the initial kit and it's quite possible your company could be facing a long meeting with the bank manager to finance all the extra safety spend.

Still, if you are putting together the business case, then throw in one very persuasive argument from a serving HSE inspector. "I've worked with many MDs where an accident has affected their family life," reveals Welsh. "Stress, anxiety, upset and a lack of sleep – not just for the director, but also the first aiders who came to the scene. All of them keep thinking the same thing: 'What more could I have done?'"
Don't suffer the same torment.

Five urban myths about working at height

1 The bigger the height, the harder you fall: Gravity can be just as deadly from two metres as 20, with HSE statistics showing major injuries were six times more likely from falls below 2m than from greater heights in 2010-11. "All the fall relies on is gravity," says HSE inspector Welsh. "As a judge once said to me, 'Once you start to fall, you're in the hands of the gods'."

2 Only employers end up in court: While employers are expected to do everything 'reasonably practicable' to ensure safety, HSE will also prosecute individuals who show a reckless disregard for the rules. HSE inspectors must show the individual flagrantly breached the employer's protocol and the offence resulted solely from their actions. Directors and managers who oversaw the offence could also appear in the dock if they ignored the obvious or knowingly let safety slide for commercial gain. Convicted employees could face imprisonment under the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008.

3 Compliance is onerous: You can download one-page risk assessments on working at height from HSE for free. The documents contain template questions you need to address before attempting a task. The guidance comes as part of a dedicated section on preventing falls www.hse.gov.uk/falls, where you can also find easy-to-use guides on ladder and stepladder safety, and a working at height toolkit. The regulator has vowed to make guidance more accessible in line with Lord Young's safety review and recommendations in 2010.

4 The right paperwork will protect you: Even the most comprehensive risk assessment will be useless unless it's enforced. Get the workforce on side by empowering them to fine-tune safety standards and make it okay to challenge accepted company wisdom. But remember to include some stick with all the carrot – companies like Marshalls make persistent breaches of protocol a disciplinary matter. And don't abandon these good habits when you're dealing with a third party. Packaging firm Garthwest was fined £50,000 after a contract roof cleaner suffered a fatal fall. HSE found the company had all the right protocols in place, but just hadn't applied the rules. If the work is taking place on your site, you may be liable.

5 You can no longer use a ladder: Reports of the ladder's demise have been greatly exaggerated. The ladder can still be used for working at height providing it's been identified as the most suitable piece of kit for the job in question. Ladders are generally suited to low-risk, short-term work, according to HSE. Anyone using the ladder must be properly trained to do so. Manufacturers should carry out a pre-use check on any ladder to spot any defects that could lead to an accident.

60-second guide to the Working at Height Regulations

What are they?

The Regulations apply to all work at height where there is risk of a fall that is liable to cause personal injury. They place a duty on employers to ensure:
- all work at height is properly planned and organised
- those involved in work at height are competent
- risks from work at height are assessed, and appropriate work equipment is selected and used
- risks of working on or near fragile surfaces are properly managed
- the equipment used for work at height is properly inspected and maintained.

Operators are also advised to avoid work at height where possible by bringing tasks down to ground level.

Are they here to stay?

Yes, the Lofstedt review recommended the regulations were reviewed by April this year amid concerns some companies were taking disproportionate measures to comply. But HSE says that although there is confusion surrounding the regulations, the reality is many businesses are simply not going far enough to meet minimum safety expectations.

Fatal falls are down 25% since the regulations were introduced.

Max Gosney

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