ELEVATING SAFETY FOR CLEANING PROFESSIONALS
Julie Riggs DProf MSc CMIOSH, Lead Diploma Tutor at Phoenix Health and Safety, discusses the issue of working at height for the cleaning industry.
Working at height and the cleaning industry are inseparable. From reaching into the inaccessible corners of a room to cleaning the hundredth-floor windows of a skyscraper from the outside, accessing lofty places is all in a day's work for cleaning professionals.
And where there's altitude, there's risk. According to the latest HSE statistics, working from height was the most frequent cause of fatal accidents to workers in 2017, accounting for 28% of the total. There were also 43,000 non-fatal accidents involving falls from height across all industries. Over 60% of deaths during work at height involve falls from ladders, scaffolds, working platforms, roof edges and through fragile roofs.
TYPICAL PREVENTABLE
ACCIDENTS Causes of cleaning industry accidents involving working at height include using ladders and stepladders incorrectly, overstretching from ladders while cleaning windows or gutters, and standing on benches or chairs to reach high surfaces.
Accidents can also involve access equipment, such as mobile elevated work platforms (MEWP) and suspended access equipment (SAE); window cleaning cradles, for example. The big question is how can a cleaning business keep its workers safe, and stay compliant with its legal and regulatory obligations?
HSE GUIDANCE ON
MINIMISING RISK In their working from height guidance, the Health and Safety Executive detail simple steps to minimise the risk. This invaluable advice for cleaning contractors can be summarised as:
• Avoid work at height when there's a practical alternative.
• Use the right type of equipment and ensure that it is stable, strong
40 | WORKING AT HEIGHT
enough for the job and maintained correctly.
• Ensure workers can get to their working position safely.
• Don't overload or over-reach when working at height.
• Take precautions when working on or near fragile surfaces.
• Provide protection from falling objects.
• Prepare and know the emergency evacuation and rescue procedures.
WHAT THE LAW SAYS The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) requires employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees and to ensure that those affected by their activities are not exposed to risk, so far as is reasonably practicable.
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require employers and those in control of any work at height activity to ensure that the work is properly planned, well supervised and carried out by ‘competent’ people.
In general terms, being competent to work at height means having the right skills, knowledge, training and experience. The precise definition of competence for a specific job depends on the nature of the work and the equipment being used. For example a window cleaner who abseils up and down a building requires different skills, knowledge and experience from one who is simply cleaning ground floor windows.
ASSESS THE RISK, RECORD IT AND KEEP
ADJUSTING IT You can't prepare for or avoid a risk unless you understand it, so risk assessment is essential to safety. Consider everything that can go wrong, decide on the precautions required and write down the findings.
Instruct and train your workforce in the precautions needed. Method statements are widely used in the construction industry, and are an effective way to help manage the work and communicate what is required, so that everyone involved is working with the same information.
The statement doesn’t need to be longer than necessary to achieve these objectives effectively. Above all it should be clear, so using simple sketches to illustrate key points is a great idea. Statements are for the benefit of those carrying out the work and their immediate supervisors, and should be as clear and simple as possible. Often the work at height risk is obvious or well known, so the necessary control measures are straightforward.
PLANNING IS KEY The law on working at height requires employers to take into account the risk assessment when organising and planning work. That's how the precautions required can be identified and work carried out with optimum safety.
HSE's clear advice is to avoid working at height whenever it is reasonably practicable to do so. That can mean using alternative methods such as telescopic water-fed poles or, most simply of all, cleaning the windows from the inside. The next option should be using an existing place of work that is already safe: a balcony for example.
But of course there are times when working at height is unavoidable. That's when employers must make sure that the people doing the work are trained and competent, and that the equipment provided is suitable, properly maintained and will be correctly used.
Where using the equipment involves a risk of falling, additional measures
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