The BSGA Column Safety at height


When working at height, safety is paramount. Making sure you have reliable equipment, and the knowhow to use it, could be the difference between success and injury. Thankfully the BSGA has helpful guidance in how to use appropriate elevating equipment, as president David Allen explains.


W


e’ve all seen those pictures on social media of people working


unsafely on a ladder or some sort of makeshift platform. Extreme examples for sure but it happens. But who among us can say they’ve never done it? Maybe you’ve had one foot on


a ladder and the other resting on something else. Maybe you’ve used the incorrect equipment to save a bit of time? I don’t mind admitting it. Most of my colleagues will attest to the fact I wasn’t much good at heights. The arrival of access platforms was a godsend.


Picking the right equipment So, what’s involved in picking the right equipment? I know the paperwork isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but do a risk assessment first and foremost, even if it’s in your head to start with. Ultimately any work at height needs one by law so don’t miss this step out. Contrary to popular belief steps and ladders aren’t banned but nowadays we’re blessed with lots of alternatives, but when they won’t work for access or space restrictions, the ladder association has guidance on their website as do we at BSGA. Often though time pressures mean


corners get cut. Maybe a team member can’t be bothered to get the shiny scaffold tower out of the van despite the fact you’ve laid out good money on a PASMA course and working at height training. All It takes is a moment for something life changing to happen. In this day and age there’s no need


for some of the balancing acts we used to do – I’m thinking ladders on top of the van and such like. The advent of MEWPS made life at height so much easier. Self-propelled lifts, in my view, changed everything. A decent sized platform somewhere to put tools and the work piece have made for a much safer environment but still the biggest cause of work-related deaths falls from height


| 48 | July/August 2025


which just goes to show how dangerous working at height is.


Risky behaviour I think the sign Industry works safely but there’s certainly plenty of examples of risky behaviour, probably most common are incorrectly assembled scaffolding, missing outriggers, toeboards and hand rails. It seems easy at the time to leave the outrigger in the van when you’re in a rush. Likewise, toeboards, how many near misses have there been from maybe catching a drill and seeing it causally fall from the platform. The risk of serious injury to a passerby or even a work colleague doesn’t bear thinking about. It’s worth noting that the employee


has a part to play here and is responsible just as much as the employer would be if an accident were to happen, especially if some training had been given. For an industry to work safely there


needs to be correct pricing and enough time, things our industry really struggles


with. All too often we are the last on site, squeezing in between the clean and the big opening. Having to rush often leads to making an unwise choice, luckily accidents may be few from our trade but when they happen it’s in a split-second. Life can change for good all for the sake of a little time or worse knowledge. If a client is unwilling to pay the cost of the right access solution I’d say it’s not worth the risk. The more we can work together as


an industry the more we can stamp out unsafe practices, and more importantly, educate the buying public of both the value and skills we have. That’s where the BSGA comes in, the more members we have the better we can represent the trade to the various other bodies that we have work alongside. We also provide more industry specific training that will add real value to the trade. We already have had conversations with some of the training bodies and as time goes by, we’ll do more work like this.


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