HEALTH & SAFETY
Guidance from fall protection specialists can help to make working at height less dangerous
Jeff Dalgleish on choosing and using fall protection for challenging environments HIGH When the stakes are A
ccording to the UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE) statistics for the year 2012/2013, the maintenance and construction disciplines within the oil and
gas sector were the leading contributors to major injury, with 11.8% of injuries caused by falls from height. In both off shore and onshore situations, there is a considerable need for working at height, often in extreme conditions and in remote areas, frequently with added complications such
44
www.engineerlive.com
as working in a confi ned space. Apart from the height itself, risks include dirty and slippery conditions, extremes of weather and an environment where there is a great deal of activity, often with heavy loads being moved and lifted. Under the Health and Safety at Work
Act, employers and employees have a general range of duties but since April 2005, specifi c Work at Height (WAH) Regulations have been in force. One of the key principles of the WAH
regulations is to assess risks where “a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury”.
A key requirement in relation to
working at height involves avoiding the need for it wherever possible, where it cannot be avoided to use work equipment or other measures to prevent falls and, ultimately, where the risk of a fall cannot be eliminated, to use work equipment or other measures that minimise the distance and consequences of a fall.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52