WORKING AT HEIGHT
THAT ‘LIGHTBULB’ MOMENT
How many times have you stepped on a box or perched on a ledge to reach something? Perhaps you did it to clean that high shelf or change a lightbulb? That’s OK though because you’re trained and competent to work at height, right? Or perhaps not. Matt Johnson, Director at CAM Specialist Support explains why there’s more to working at height than you might think and what can be done to make it safer.
When considering working at height, it’s easy to assume that it is only the guys hanging off ropes, or on elevated platforms, halfway up the side of the building who are carrying out these tasks. However, the reality is that the majority of people working as cleaning operatives will also frequently be working at height to complete their day-to-day tasks.
That comes as a surprise to many people and may help explain why, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), falling from height was one of the most frequent causes of workplace injury in 2014/15. If you’re not aware you’re doing it, you are unlikely to be taking the necessary precautions to stay safe. Construction workers have a better safety record than cleaning operatives for the same reason; the dangers are more evident, so greater precautions are taken.
In fact, working at height means carrying out tasks in any place where, without proper precautions, a person could fall far enough to cause personal injury. This means you are working at height if you are above ground/floor level, could fall from an edge, through an opening or fragile surface. You are even working at height at ground level if there’s a risk of falling into an opening in a floor or a hole in the ground.
So if cleaning operatives are having to use step ladders or climb on ledges to perform their duties, they are working at height.
TIME TO DITCH THE LADDERS? High level cleaning is inherently more dangerous than ground-level tasks, but once you are aware of them, the risks can be controlled. To properly and effectively assess risk, it is not enough
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to use generic forms. Each task requires specific risk assessments and methods statements (RAMS). This is a specialist task in itself and RAMS can only be properly prepared by qualified health and safety personnel.
Contrary to popular belief, ladders have not been banned from the workplace. Ladders and stepladders, are perfectly acceptable tools for safe working at height, as long as the operative has sufficient skills, knowledge and experience to perform the task. It is also important that the environment where the task is taking place is properly prepared, with any hazards removed and passers-by kept at a safe distance.
Where a task has been identified as low-risk and won’t take long (ladders should be used for no more than 30 minutes at a time), it may be sufficient to make sure the operative has received instruction on how to use equipment, such as a ladder, safely. Where necessary they should also receive training. In many cases this can be on-the-job training. Anyone performing tasks while still undergoing training should be supervised by a competent person.
As well as using ladders, water-fed poles are a popular way to clean higher levels with less risk to the operative. They still need sufficient training and supervision to reduce the risk of accidents or incorrect use of equipment which could lead to musculoskeletal disorders; falls from height are not the only danger!
EXTREME CLEANING When you are looking at the more specialist end of working at height, such as when operatives are using
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technically-advanced suspended- access equipment hundreds of feet off the ground to carry out commercial window cleaning or fabric maintenance, there’s a greater chance of a fall leading to a serious injury or fatality. Therefore, thorough training is required and you may be better off calling in the experts to carry out the task. There are additional areas to consider when work is to be done at height and these require specialist knowledge and experience.
Specialist skills, specific equipment and strategic planning were essential for organising and completing the cleaning work needed at County Square Shopping Centre, in Ashford, Kent. Two truck-mounted access- platforms were required to reach the external façade, which was showing signs of accumulated dirt, grime and pollution. To ensure that all the stone, glass blocks, metal panels, metal fins
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