WORKING AT HEIGHT
YES! IT’S REAL: GROUND LEVEL HEIGHTS
Darren Hockley, Managing Director of, DeltaNet International, explores an often- overlooked part of working at height.
an open man-hole), it should be clearly demarcated, and preferably cordoned off with sturdy railings. There should be clear, up-to-code signage, and workers who don’t have to work around the risk of falling down should be kept at a safe distance from it.
For those who do need to work in or around a hole or fragile surface, there should be similar safety features implemented as above ground level working at height, such as netting or safety harnesses. However, these are a last resort and employees must receive thorough health and safety training before entering the site.
Seemingly counterintuitive, but there is indeed such a thing as ‘ground level working from height’ since ‘working from height’ means working in any place where, without taking proper precautions, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury (say, falling through a fragile surface or into a hole in the ground).
In other words, by law – and if we’re talking about the organisation’s duty of care to its workers – both working from height and ground level working from height should be considered with the same level of seriousness and the same level of risk assessment.
Indeed, we can refer to The Work at Height Regulations 2005 (WAHR) which is the main piece of British legislation on the topic. The legislation states that any work taking place “at or below ground level” is covered by the laws just as much as above ground work at height is.
In fact, if there’s any chance of injuring yourself by falling, then your task sits within the remit of the WAHR.
KEEPING WORKERS SAFE In August 2018, air ambulance services were called to
a Glenrothes construction site after a worker fell down a hole, caught his leg beneath an object and became stuck. The employee suffered leg injuries, but – thankfully – emergency services were able to free the man before he suffered any permanent or serious damage.
This is just one example illustrating the importance of keeping workers, and indeed the public, safe from falls - whether they take place above or below ground level.
Wherever there is a chance of falling into a hole (e.g. below-ground excavation work, a dry swimming pool,
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Many of the steps employers need to take to protect workers during ground level working at height are the same as the ones they need to take when the work is above ground, however, it’s worth going over them for ground-level working at height since workers can feel there’s ‘less risk’ of injury on the ground, which is simply untrue:
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“THE WORK AT HEIGHT REGULATIONS 2005 (WAHR) LEGISLATION STATES THAT ANY WORK TAKING PLACE ‘AT OR BELOW GROUND LEVEL’ IS COVERED BY THE LAWS JUST AS MUCH AS ABOVE GROUND WORK AT HEIGHT IS.”
RISK ASSESSMENTS A complete risk assessment needs to be drawn up
along with a thorough safety plan for the project. All hazards should be identified and their corresponding control measures recorded and monitored to decide how effective they are.
EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK The people conducting the work at height should
be asked for their input, as they’re likely to have the best idea of which safety measures the work requires. Checking back over any near misses or minor accidents in the past can also give an indication of which areas pose the biggest potential dangers.
PROVIDE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT It’s an employer’s responsibility to provide all the
necessary equipment to carry out the job well and safely. This covers access equipment such as ladders and platforms, which must be inspected very regularly to ensure they’re always in good working order. It also covers personal protective equipment (PPE) for all workers.
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