Opinion Working at Height
Dangerous work at height
In this month’s Fact File, Peter Harvey, Fork Lift Truck Association chief executive, focuses on safe working at heights.
Falling from heights is one of Britain’s leading causes of workplace
accidents, accounting for 1 in 12 injuries recorded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Falls from fork lift trucks, on average, seriously injure 40 workers each year. In January, a Cheshire cheese
“Fork lift trucks are intended primarily for lifting materials, not people”
Free fact sheets covering this topic, alongside a host of others, are available from
www.fork-truck.
org.uk/fact-sheets.
fi rm was fi ned for safety failings after a worker injured his leg and ankle when he fell from the forks of a fork lift truck during an unsafe loading operation. The 53-year-old worker had been helping to load cheese onto a wagon with one foot on each prong, when the forks hit the back of the vehicle and jolted. Falling a metre to the ground, he suffered cuts to his leg and multiple fractures to the ankle. Investigating, the HSE found it had been common practice for workers to be lifted on the forks – despite it being illegal.
WORKING PLATFORMS Fork lift trucks are intended primarily for lifting materials, not people. They can be used with working platforms – allowing for work at heights – but this design and use is subjected to detailed, specifi c rules. Anyone involved in this type of application should be familiar with these. “Platform” refers to equipment which allows a fork lift truck to be used to raise one or more people to a working position, so that an urgent essential task can be carried out in relative safety. The law forbids the use of
38 March 2014
pallets, skips or stillages – or any improvised device – as platforms to lift people. Under certain exceptional circumstances, a purpose-built platform may be used. This will be a specially designed item from a manufacturer of specialist attachments. It will always have sides to contain the worker safely and it must be provided with a number of other safety devices specifi ed by the law. However, even the safest of purpose-built platforms cannot be used legally for routine tasks, such as painting, cleaning, maintenance, stocktaking and order picking.
The use of working platforms is restricted to occasional, emergency tasks. For example: • Checking for high- level damage;
• Replacing essential light fi ttings;
• Clearing blocked gutters. A number of further restrictions and regulations apply to the design and deployment of platforms, which are detailed in HSE Guidance Note PM 28 (4th edition), Working Platforms (Non-Integrated) On Forklift Trucks. This should be studied by anyone considering the use of a platform and can be downloaded for free from
www.hse.gov.uk. Any fork lift truck that may be used with a working platform must have a Thorough Examination at least once every six months. All working platforms must also undergo Thorough Examination at least once every six months.
www.shdlogistics.com EVACUATION
Some materials handling equipment is designed to work with operators raised to heights greater than three metres. Legislation requires employers to provide a safe means of escape for operators of this equipment, should it become stuck in a raised position. The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER 98) state: “You should ensure that in the event of failure of the lifting equipment that the persons being lifted are not exposed to danger and a reliable means of rescue is available.” Every site and application is
different, so a risk assessment, designed to meet the operation’s needs, must be conducted to determine the most appropriate means of rescue. Further guidance is contained in HSE Local Authority Circular 20/3, available from www.hse.
gov.uk/lau/lacs. Designed for specialist inspectors, it provides a useful review of the crucial issues – including the types of equipment available and training requirements. This should be read in full if considering rope evacuation. ■
www.fork-truck.org.uk
Risking life and limb with improvised platforms
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