WORKING AT HEIGHT
HIGH STANDARDS
Mark Atkinson, Health & Safety Manager at Clugston Group explores the new safety standards driving significant improvements in working practices.
Falls from height have remained amongst the most common causes of fatal injuries to workers in the UK over the last five years, none-more-so in the construction sector which accounted for half of all falls from height deaths during the same period.
It should perhaps come as little surprise that the growing prominence of large-scale construction projects such as vast ‘mega’ warehouses and distribution centres – some of which measure over one million square foot – has correlated with growing rates of injuries from working at height.
Such is the rise of large ‘big box’ warehouses – typically structures of over 100,000 square feet – that Lidl last year announced plans to build one of the largest UK warehouses near Luton, measuring a staggering one million square foot. Meanwhile, construction work on a new 1.1million square foot, £100m logistics facility for Amazon in Doncaster was completed in July 2018.
Naturally, given the scale of such facilities, working at height remains a major concern for contractors who are tasked with delivering the next-generation of warehouse space. As a result, there is a growing focus on improving health and safety outcomes in construction, backed by The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and various UK-wide initiatives such as the Go Home Healthy campaign, safer site initiative and Construction Safety Week, leading to a seismic shift in how large-scale warehouses and distribution centres are designed and built – to ensure optimal onsite safety within facilities.
RENEWED STANDARDS The introduction of renewed working at height and mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) standards, for instance, have been lauded as a significant step towards safer working practices, particularly during large-scale warehouse design and construction schemes.
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The BS 8460:2017 Code of Practice (CoP) for the safe use of mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPS), which replaces the 2005 legislation, introduces detailed guidance on secondary guarding, self- familiarisation, material handling devices and provides an example rescue plan – making it an integral standard for health and safety directors, facilities managers and warehouse directors alike.
Given that the previous BS8460 and BS7981 standards had not been updated for over 10 years, the updated CoP – drawn up with the participation of HSE representatives and based on feedback from International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) and its members – has been developed to reflect the changing nature of the construction industry and the technical and safety guidance.
The renewed British standard includes recommendations on the selection, renting, positioning, maintenance and thorough examination of aerial work platforms, as well as clear guidance on their safe use, including on the selection and training of operators and other competent personnel.
With more than 60,000 MEWPs in operation in the UK across the building, construction and maintenance, telecommunications and highway maintenance sectors, amongst others, it is essential that any company using this equipment operate within the parameters of the latest safety practises and legislation.
In recent years, the UK’s construction sector has undergone a fundamental shift towards safer working practices. In a bid to reduce the risks of working at height, and reduce the number of fatal injuries occurring as a result of falls, the updated BS 8460:2017 standard is seen as a significant step in the right direction for a sector long associated with a poor health and safety record.
www.clugston.co.uk/construction www.tomorrowshs.com
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