WORKING AT HEIGHT HIGH TIME TO ASSESS


Safety performance is improving dramatically, with the number of fatal injuries to workers down year on year. With more companies making proactive safety changes to create a positive safety culture within their business, there is significant potential for fatal injuries to drop below 100 within the next couple of years.


However, it is impossible to ignore that in 2021/22 there were 123 workers that were fatally injured at work, with falls from height representing 29 of those deaths.


The advances in technology have seen the birth of a multitude of safety and compliance digital platforms, safety apps and online training. There is no better time to evaluate safety systems and equipment.


Many companies have newly formed internal safety teams and are highlighting health and safety far higher on the agenda at meetings and updates than ever before.


All too often it is the lack of care and attention that leads to an accident. An impending deadline might mean a job is rushed, so corners are cut leading to safety procedures being forgotten or intentionally not followed. In some cases, accidents are down to the lack of consequential knowledge from managers about what could happen if a task is allowed to continue.


For the fatal accident statistics to come down further and falls from height be knocked off the top spot it needs a top to bottom approach to be implemented in companies where working at height takes place.


Managers need to be more visual in the workplace and check that equipment, tools, and structures are set up correctly and that workers are working safely. There is real pressure for managers to reply to business-critical emails and provide reports, however the safe erection of towers and platforms and workers wearing the correct PPE is life critical and can so easily go wrong if procedures aren’t followed.


There has been a decrease in workers wearing the correct PPE and in hot weather, with hi-vis jackets or vests, hats and goggles being removed but work continuing. When asked, the workers have suggested that this is common practice. Turning a blind eye to avoid confrontation can literally be the difference between life and death. Managers should keep standards high and regularly check workers’ PPE.


In the same way, working at height equipment in the form of ladders, platforms and scaffolding must be checked before use by a competent person. Any faults or defects should be reported and any defunct equipment not used and labelled as out of order. Unfortunately, faulty and defective equipment is used – again with a blind-eye approach.


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In a recent prosecution by the HSE a construction company was fined after a worker died as a result of falling from a mobile tower and later died in hospital.


Cambridge Magistrates Court heard how Sean Harding was working from a mobile tower flattening a steel beam that was positioned on a door lintel. He was using a crowbar to lever the beam for a work colleague to insert a metal packer into the space.


Mr. Harding caught his jacket sleeve on the tower and in doing so lost balance and fell over the single guard rail and down to ground level. He was taken to hospital but died three months later due to injuries associated with the fall.


The Health & Safety Executive led an investigation and found that the mobile tower had not been configured correctly for the task. It should have been set up with a double guard rail in place and more head room available. It commented: “Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work-related fatalities in this country and the risks associated with working at height are well known. Those in control of work have a responsibility to select access equipment that is suitable for the task and the work environment and ensure that it is safely used.”


This could have been avoided if the correct safety measures were put in place and were checked by a senior officer. In addition, some questions to ponder - was there a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for the task? Was there a safe working procedure? Are workers correctly trained? Is there a competent person overseeing safety activities?


The answers to these questions sit with the business owners, directors and managers. Investigate additional training, issue correct PPE and set the example from the board room that safety matters.


www.hrsolutions-uk.com www.tomorrowshs.com


There is no better time to evaluate safety systems and equipment, especially when it comes to working above ground, explains Dom Greenwood, Senior Health, Safety & Environmental Consultant at HR Solutions.


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