WORKING AT HEIGHT
A TALL ORDER?
Here, Zarges explores how customisation of safety and access platforms can keep up with changing industry practices and address the catastrophic consequences of falls from height.
According to the most recent statistics from the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE), working from height is the most common cause of fatalities at work, responsible for almost a third of all deaths and causing an astonishing 43,000 non-fatal accidents last year. Falls from height can affect any industry, but are especially prevalent in the manufacturing, construction and motor vehicle repair (MVR) industries.
Even when the victim survives, the consequences can be almost as catastrophic: data from the Nationwide National Insurance Co. in the US shows that these types of injuries are more severe than other injury claims because these accidents result in more time away from work, damage to multiple body parts, and more short- and long-term disability leave.
To reduce deaths and injuries from falls, we need to understand why they continue to happen. One of the key factors is the way that changes in these industries and accompanying ways of working make existing safety and access systems unfit for purpose.
If we take the manufacturing sector as an example, while most production lines are automated, there is an ongoing need to maintain optimum performance given any downtime can be costly to the business. This often requires human involvement, checking that parts are performing as expected, or fixing any problems that arise.
As such, businesses require customised steps, platforms and access that perfectly align with the production line for maintenance and cleaning purposes, or to fit adequately into complex new spaces.
Then consider, for example, the rail sector. Each depot has its own layout and will deal with different types of trainsets; the overall safety and efficiency of the facility depends on having suitable access technology that is adapted for that particular site and the tasks undertaken there.
Both mobile and stationary access systems need to combine integrated safety features with height adjustability and access to necessary utilities such as electricity, compressed air and water to ensure that engineers have the right tools, at the right height, and in the most efficient and comfortable position to do the job.
The challenge facing businesses in these and other industries is that it takes time and money to commission specially-made access systems for
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production line machinery. This, naturally, adds extra cost to the final product or piece of work being undertaken, not to mention delays.
Industries the world over need to think differently about access systems, such as ladders, platforms, stairways and bridging steps. Relying on legacy systems means that there is no guarantee that they will be fit for each purpose, while designing new, bespoke versions and commissioning a fabricator to build them would be far too costly to contemplate – were it not for the safety imperative.
The answer is to use modular access systems that are flexible and can be ordered and delivered within a matter of weeks for different applications. Naturally, these products should provide exceptional stability, and be reliable and low-maintenance themselves.
Modular, custom-built access systems like these can have a huge impact on health and safety, especially for those working at height. By ensuring that they are built specifically for the job in hand, they eliminate the risks associated with working from height, such as dangerous gaps.
Normally, custom-built products are significantly more expensive and take longer to acquire than off-the-shelf items. The genius of taking a modular approach to access systems is that they can be ordered, assembled and deployed quickly for any number of applications or changing production lines, quickly delivering a return on investment – as well as providing the all-important safety benefits.
We believe passionately that all industrial accidents belong in the past, and that falls from height should be consigned to history along with all the other hazards we have successfully eliminated from the workplace.
www.zarges.com/uk www.tomorrowshs.com
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