Working at Height continues to be one of the major causes of fatality and serious injury accidents, not just in the UK but throughout the world. Only last week I was reading the terrible story of a man and his son who had fallen several stories down in a temporary lift on a Liverpool building site. Gravity is a powerful and irresistible force and we have to respect it when we do any work at a height which may cause injury.
It is of some comfort that the UK has, consistently, the lowest workplace fatality rates in the EU. On average we suffer around 1 workplace death per 200,000 workers. The number one cause of workplace fatality is though working at Height. Around a quarter of all workplace deaths involve a fall from height. Whilst we can applaud the UK Businesses for implementing and maintaining robust systems of work which enable these figures to be kept as low as they are we should also look to analyse why exactly these incidents are still a major factor in workplace deaths. Because the regulations are written to basically eliminate working at height wherever possible, designers and constructers have found new and innovative ways of construction where structures or parts of structures are assembled on the floor then simply hoisted into place. This operation brings new and challenging risks associated with the hoisting and moving of huge structures. It also means that construction workers are working less and less at height so whilst the risk is reduced numerically, the experience and competence of actually working at height is being lost so that the fewer who are working at height are more likely to suffer falls and accidents related to that task. Catch 22.
Every serious injury or fatality is a terrible tragedy for the family involved and can lead to long term financial hardship and disability. Every time someone works on a roof without edge protection, or on ladders which are not tied off or footed or on scaffolding which is not properly constructed, even for ten minutes or one small job that needs finishing that day they are putting a gun to their head and if you play Russian Roulette then eventually there will be a bullet with your name on it. Even a fall from a few meters can cause serious injury.
All working at height MUST be properly planned. If you can eliminate the need to work at height then you should do so. If you can’t then you must choose the most appropriate way of doing it which deals most effectively with the risk involved. Scaffolding, Tower Scaffolds, mobile work platforms are all safe means of access if erected properly by a competent person. Cost should not come into the equation where risk of serious injury is involved. Staff must be properly trained and equipped to carry out work at height. A ladder is cheap but it exposes you to a lot of risk. If you are going to work from a ladder then make sure you follow the rules. Tie them off properly or have them footed. Make sure they are set at an angle of 1:4 on solid, level ground and make sure you retain three points of contact at all times.
You only have one life and your family would not forgive you for taking unnecessary risks just to save time and money.
If you have any reservations about the safest way to do the job or in completing a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for working at height then get in touch with us. OJ Health and Safety Solutions Limited will advise you what your legal responsibilities are and how to comply with the law.