CLEANING SAFELY ISN’T A TALL ORDER
Heather Dunning, Health and Safety Consultant for the ELAS Group, discusses the health and safety requirements for cleaning at height.
In the cleaning industry there are often times when you need to work at height in order to carry out certain tasks. This means carrying out work in any place where, if no precautions are taken, a person could fall a distance that is liable to cause personal injury, for example when working on a ladder or a flat roof, falling through a fragile surface, falling into an opening in the floor or hole in the ground.
Employers have a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations and the Work at Height Regulations 2005, to ensure that all work is planned, supervised and carried out by a competent person. Employers should ensure that a specific working at height risk assessment is carried out, outlining the risks and controls that are present when cleaners carry out their duties.
Cleaners often work alone or outside normal working hours, so it’s even more important to take all precautions to prevent injury from working at height.
Common situations where you could be working at height include cleaning light fittings, staircases, high cupboards, shelving etc. While it can be tempting to simply stand on a bench, chair or counter in order to do this, it’s important to use proper access equipment like ladders or stepladders any time you need to work at height.
Visual checks must be carried out before using ladders, and should include:
• Checking the side rails to make sure they’re not bent or damaged which could cause the ladder to collapse.
• Checking the feet to make sure none are missing or damaged which could cause the ladder to slip.
• Checking the rungs to see if they are bent or worn.
• Ensure the locking mechanisms are engaged and not damaged.
• Checking the platform on a stepladder – do not use if it is split or unstable.
• Checking the steps to make sure they are not damaged, dirty or slippery.
All reasonable steps should be taken to eliminate the risk of falling but, where this isn’t possible, it is important that you minimise the distance and consequences of a fall, should one happen. Don’t overstretch from one position in order to save time when cleaning – it’s simply not worth the risk.
38 | WORKING AT HEIGHT
Always take the few extra seconds to readjust the position of your access equipment to ensure your safety and consider the cleaning equipment that you are using when you are at height – is it secured? What would happen if you dropped something?
Window cleaning brings heightened risk and you should use equipment like telescopic water-fed poles to avoid working at height whenever it is reasonably practicable to do so. If it cannot be avoided, for example when cleaning the windows on high rise buildings, then suitable specialist access equipment must be provided and used at all times.
There are several things that need to be assessed before you start any work at height. While working conditions can vary from site to site, there are certain conditions that must always be considered, including the height at which you will be working, access, location, weather conditions, the ground and surface condition as well as the tools or materials you will be using for the job.
Any access equipment used must be suitable for the task, well-maintained, regularly inspected and, where applicable, thoroughly examined in accordance with the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER). Personal protective equipment (PPE) may be used, including hi-vis, hard hats, gloves and protective footwear. If equipment has been provided, it must be used.
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