Health and Safety – Working at heights

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Working at heights

Introduction

This article is based on the UK and EU health and safety laws. It explains the Work at Height Regulations 2005. These regulations consolidate the older Work at Height Regulations and include the latest amendments from the EU Directive (2001/45/EC).

The regulations put a duty on employers, managers, self employer people, and anyone who has control over others in the workplace.

Do the rules apply to my company / the place I work?

The Working at Height Regulations 2005 apply to everyone involved in working at any height, where there is a risk of a fall which could cause personal injury. That includes employers, employees and the self-employed.

The regulations do not apply to paid instruction or leadership such as for adventure sports, recreation, or team-building activities.

Why do we have to follow the regulations?

The law has been designed to protect all employees and ultimately aid in preventing death and personal injury. It’s a matter of good working practice that all managers and work forces should be thinking about.

What is ‘work at height’?

A place is ‘at height’, if a person could be injured by falling from it. For the purposes of the law a place is ‘at height’ even if it is at ground level, or below ground level.

‘Work’ means moving around in the working environment (except by a staircase in a permanent place of work). It does not mean whilst travelling to and from work. For example, a sales assistant would be ‘working at height’ whilst on a stepladder, however, a mounted police officer would not be working at height if on patrol.

An employer’s duties

An employer must do everything reasonably possible to prevent anyone from falling. This includes:

Avoiding all work at height wherever possible;
Use suitable equipment to aid work at height is there is no other method of carrying out the work from a place which is not at height;
Do everything possible to minimise the height at which the person may fall from and minimise the consequences should someone fall.

This means that:

All work at height is properly planned and organised;
All work at height takes into consideration weather conditions which may adversely affect the work in progress;
Employees who are involved are trained and competent;
The environment where the work is carried out is safe;
Equipment use to aid work at height is regularly inspected and is suitable for use;
The risks from fragile surfaces are properly controlled;· Risks from falling objects are properly controlled.

Hazards

Falls from heights are a regular cause of fatal and serious injuries. There are three main hazards associated with work at heights:

Falls;
Falling objects;
Falls from collapsing structures.

Risk Assessment

Carry out a risk assessment before working at height to find out what health and safety measures need to be adopted to avoid or reduce risk. Work should be done at a safe level to minimise risk. If this is not possible, consider the following:

The physical condition of the people involved e.g. age, fitness, pregnancy, vertigo, etc;
The activity;
Equipment to be used;
Location, e.g. near or over water, roads, under power lines, over raked stage, etc;
The environment, e.g. weather, temperature, lighting;
Duration of the work;
Condition and stability of the work surfaces.

Precautionary measuresfalls

Precautions must be taken where a person can fall a distance of more than 2m. If there is an increased risk of injury when falling a distance of less than 2m, e.g. working near a traffic route or above a dangerous surface, suitable precautions will also be required.

There are many ways of preventing falls of people:

Edge protection, e.g. toe boards, guard rails;
Safety harnesses;
Maintaining a safe distance from an edge;
Safety nets.

These need to be considered in the order listed above.

Falling objects

To prevent objects falling onto people you need a proper management system which:

Provides barriers, e.g. a toe boards or mesh guards to prevent items from slipping or being Knocked off the edge of a structure;
Secures objects to the structure, e.g. lashing of scaffold boards;
Ensures that there are no loose objects and that any tools are properly secured;
Creates an exclusion zone, where necessary, beneath areas where work is taking place.

In addition, when people are working at heights above other work areas, it is advisable to provide safety helmets to protect the workers below against falling objects. Danger areas can be clearly marked with suitable safety signs indicating that access is restricted to essential personnel wearing hard hats while this work is in progress.

Falls from collapsing structures

Structures need to be designed to be safe and to be built by competent people. The skills, knowledge and experience of the designer will depend upon the nature of the structure concerned and the use or uses to which it is put.

A competent person should inspect and attach a notice to a structure after completion and before it is put into use. Further inspections on a regular basis (at least weekly) and after severe weather (external structures) or if the structure is significantly altered, will also be needed.

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