FEATURE P – CHOOSE QUALITY PPE AND HEIGHT
SAFETY TOOLS There’s nothing more important to your health and safety when working at height than utilising the right equipment and protection. But protection itself isn’t always enough.
Is your Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) best-in- class? Does it comply with the latest regulations? It’s easy to get caught out by equipment when the price tempts, but that equipment may break or fail, and you could find yourself making many repeat purchases which will cost you more in the long run. Furthermore, if it does fail, a member of your team could be injured in the process.
L – LOOK AT YOUR EQUIPMENT BEFORE EACH
USE You may be one step ahead and have some of the best PPE and safety equipment available, but when was the last time you had a really good look at it?
It’s good practice to you conduct visual inspections before each use. The BS EN 365: 2004 Personal protective equipment against falls from height standard instructs users of fall arrest equipment to re- certify equipment on a 12-monthly basis. Some textile webbing products may need to be tested every six months at least, or every three months if being used in arduous conditions.
A – HAVE AN ACTIONABLE EMERGENCY
EVACUATION AND RESCUE PLAN While you should make every effort to reduce all risks when working at height, accidents can still occur. You must have an easy-to-action, well-drilled emergency evacuation and rescue plan ready.
A plan should include an agreed and firmly set procedure for evacuations and rescues. Make sure you and your team know exactly what could wrong and practice what to do in those situations. You can’t just rely on the emergency services to conduct an evacuation or rescue.
A – ASSURE REGULATORY COMPLIANCE Good awareness of all the relevant legislation and
regulations that exist to mitigate against any risks is essential.
If you or your employees are working at height, you will need to comply with the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (WAHR). These regulations apply to an employer or if you control work at height (contractor or factory owner). Non-compliance with the relevant legislations could result in you and your team being at risk of injury due to poor safety practices, plus potential fines and site closures.
N – NEVER GET COMPLACENT Train, train and then train again. Never get complacent.
It isn’t a one-time thing. Training gives confidence, increases knowledge, and upskills tradespersons so they can carry out their work effectively with minimal
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risk. Training is one of the most important tools to prevent injuries on-site. A worker must be confident using the tools at their disposal.
STAY SAFE AT HEIGHT Our hope is that the STRICTPLAAN work at height
planning framework gives you a memorable way of remembering important height safety measures that must be in place before a project is undertaken. We must all pull together to improve awareness around the risks of working at height, and thus the importance of preparing as best we can for any risk that could present itself. We can make working at height safer for all.
Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive guide and we always recommend speaking to a height safety specialist to support your requirements. You can download our STRICPLAAN guide here.
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