HEALTH & SAFETY
emergency can be communicated in a number of ways – for example by mobile phone or radio, or by means of a ‘lone worker’ alarm, or we can even utilise the ‘old-school’ method of going and telling someone that something is wrong. Whatever communication tools and methods you use, be sure that your emergency communications are clear, contain specific and adequate information, are ‘in sync’ with other information being disseminated, and that they are tested regularly, including before and during the work. Communication is especially important when considering emergency situations like a fire evacuation. Not every building has call points, sounders, or visual beacons on the roof, and this is an important but often overlooked point. I experienced the downside to this
myself a few years ago. I was on the roof of a large building teaching the Facilities staff how to attach themselves to a safety line system correctly, when we looked down into the car park and noticed it was full of people, including some who appeared to be wearing hi-vis vests. There had been a fire evacuation, and we were none the wiser. Luckily for us it was only a small fire, and dealt with very quickly, but if it had been anything significant, we may have become stuck on the roof with no way down. I learned that day the importance of checking that there is a suitable means of communicating the need to evacuate to anyone who may be working on a roof where there are no alarm systems. You can’t always assume that someone will come to get you.
Firefighting If the work itself presents a risk of fire, and a hot works permit is required, we may also need to consider suitable firefighting methods. However, firefighting should only be carried out by someone with the correct training and the correct equipment; otherwise it is not safe. Once effective communication is
established, then it is important to agree on a method of evacuation should the need occur. The following will need to be considered:
Evacuation route: What is the primary route for evacuating the work area? Equally, where possible, a secondary route should always be identified in case the first is compromised. This should be agreed prior to the work starting, and written into the plan.
Muster points: Where will everyone move to once they have evacuated? Although site inductions often tell people they are to go to ‘a muster point’ in the event of an evacuation, it is often an overlooked point that this isn’t followed up. People should actually be shown the muster point closest to their point of work, and we should ensure that they are familiar with how to
48 Health Estate Journal August 2024
get to it, especially if they are working on the roof. Remember that a muster point should be in a safe location away from other hazards.
n Method of rescue and casualty extraction
The last thing to consider is: How do we rescue someone who is need of help, and how do we recover them to a safe location where they can receive further treatment, or be moved to another location, such as A&E? Now this initially seems complicated, and I sometimes get ‘pushback’ on this, with people (including rescue professionals) telling me ‘It’s impossible to predict every scenario, so therefore we can’t write this part down.’ Consequently, this part of the plan tends to look pretty predictable, with most people writing something to the effect that: ‘We will see what happens when it gets to it, and take it from there.’ My answer is that the belief that a method can’t be written is wrong. The trick for those who need to write this part of the plan is to start with talking yourself through the steps you would take in a casualty recovery situation, and to remember to use your training. The conversation normally goes something along these lines: I ask them what the first step of casualty management is? They reply: ‘I would assess the immediate area for any danger to myself or ongoing danger to the casualty.’ ‘Good,’ I respond, ‘write that down and call it step 1.’ ‘What’s next?’ They respond: ‘Then I would try to get a response from the casualty, verbally at first.’ ‘OK, so write that down; that’s step 2; lets carry on’, and so on.
A comprehensive method If we break it down in this way, then we can begin to write a comprehensive method of casualty extraction that begins with assessing the casualty etc, before progressing all the way through to actually extricating the casualty from the scene. I appreciate that there may well be variations, and that the casualty extraction progresses will be dictated by how the casualty was injured, and where they injured themselves in the first place. In this instance we simply need to write different versions of the method to allow for different foreseeable outcomes. For example, I would write an extraction method for someone who was hanging from a harness and lanyard, and a separate one for someone who has slipped on the roof and broken their leg. I would then write a third method that covers medical situations such as a heart attack etc. The good thing is that you will not
have to do it from scratch every time someone performs work at height-related activity on your site. As regards your own internal staff, once the initial work is done, and plans are in place for all areas
of concern, then hopefully things won’t change too often, and they will just need to be reviewed as part of an annual audit. However, if you are bringing contractors in to perform any work at height on your behalf, then the responsibility is placed onto them. Given that you would normally ask them for the usual information prior to them attending site, such as a copy of their risk assessment, and for evidence of their staff’s competency etc., you should also be asking them to provide you with a detailed Emergency and Rescue Plan that ensures the safety of their staff while they work on your site. The key thing to remember is that there should be a suitable and sufficient plan in place for all work at height, and that it should be agreed upon before the work starts, not as an afterthought. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like help with your plan.
Ashley Morpeth
Ashley Morpeth CertIOSH, MIIRSM, MIHEEM, MInSTR, is an experienced and qualified health and safety professional with over 15 years’ experience in the Work at Height and Confined Spaces industry. He specialises in developing bespoke Safe Systems of Work, writing and implementing policy and procedures, and delivering custom, tailor-made training in an engineering and estates management environment. In addition to his extensive experience with NHS clients, he has a broad and detailed knowledge of operating and implementing other health and safety management systems such as JSP375 (Applicable to the MoD), and many other similar commercial and industrial management systems and Safe Systems of Work. He has delivered training and provided consultancy services both across the UK, and in countries such as Kenya, Nepal, Cyprus, Gibraltar, the Falklands, and throughout the Middle East.
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