Humans cannot fly, and reliable jetpacks have yet to be invented. This means that working at height requires a fair amount of equipment, which can be broadly split into two categories: access and safety. Read on to find out more.
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Every workplace is different, and every career has different responsibilities; some people might be expected to do a large amount of manual handling and lifting daily, while some people might go for years lifting nothing more than a pen.
According to government legislation, manual handling is defined as: “the transporting or supporting of a load (including lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving) by hand or by bodily force.” Basically, it's the handling of any load whether you're lifting it, dragging it, pushing it, 'manual handling' covers the whole lot.
A high school in Southport, Merseyside received a hefty fine last month after a worker fell off a roof and sustained multiple fractures.
The incident in question occurred in 2018. According to shponline.co.uk, the man was getting some footballs down from the roof of the school's sixth form centre when he lost his footing and fell more than 3 metres before hitting the ground.
A HSE investigation found that there were no fall protection measures in place to prevent an incident like this. An edge protection system or anchor point could have kept the worker from falling off the roof, but no such precautions had been taken, and so the governing body of Christ the King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre were fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,851.50.
Falls from height are among the most common causes of injury and death in the workplace. Employers must ensure that appropriate safety measures are in place before allowing staff to work at height.
Height Safety Equipment Fall Protection Systems
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A construction firm has been fined after a 17-year-old worker fell through a skylight opening and suffered life-changing injuries. On 20 August 2018, the young worker fell through an insulation sheet covering a skylight while walking across an unmarked area on the construction site in Gloucester. He suffered multiple broken bones, which needed two operations to treat. His doctors advised him that it was unlikely he would be able to work in construction ever again. A potential career in construction was cut short by the neglect of another reckless employer.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that the employee was not supervised properly and was not warned about the risks on site. According to reports, there were no warnings in place about the hole in the roof, and no workers on site had been told about it. No further physical barriers were in place, either - any of these measures could have prevented this tragic accident.
The company failed to take the necessary precautions for working at height, and further investigation showed continued failures to properly and adequately plan constructions at that height (even after the incident in question). The Mark Holland Group pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations and were fined £55,620.
HSE inspectors highlighted how this accident could have been avoided with simple safety precautions, such as the correct height safety equipment.
It's essential for employers to take adequate fall protection measures and follow the health and safety regulations at all times. These safety guidelines are there to help employers comply with the law and prevent death and serious injury.
Employers should aim to carry out work on the ground where possible, or utilise scaffolding or mobile platforms that allow easy and safe access. Failing that, use fall protection equipment to restrain workers in the event of a fall and minimise the distance the individual falls to minimise the potential injury.
Read our blog about choosing the best fall protection equipment for your job.
We hope that employers see stories like this one and make more of an effort to prioritise health and safety to prevent further accidents.
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A chemical firm has been handed a hefty fine after a worker suffered a nasty injury following a fall off a ladder.
The incident occurred at the company’s site in Workington when the employee was attempting to inspect a steam leak at height.
While scaling a ladder to do so, the ladder failed, resulting in the worker falling two metres to the ground below, incurring a serious elbow injury in the process.
The incident resulted in the firm, Vertellus Specialties UK Ltd, being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive.
Following their inquiry, the HSE soon concluded that the company had failed to ensure that the job was adequately planned and managed.
Meanwhile, the HSE also surmised that Vertellus had failed to inspect the equipment and ensure it was fit for use.
While the incident took place back in June 2018, the verdict was only reached this past week.
The hearing saw company representatives plead guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The results left Vertellus Specialties UK Ltd with a lofty fine of £120k with over £5k in costs.
Such an incident could have been avoided if the appropriate cautionary steps had been taken in advance.
At SLG, we have a variety of ladder safety equipment to help prevent such instances from occurring and minimise the risks of injury, ranging from removable wall anchors to fall protection kits.
Meanwhile, we also offer permanent structural solutions in the form of our Rung Mounted Permanent Vertical Fall Arrest System, compatible with a demountable mobile anchorage device for additional safety and enhanced freedom of movement.
With so many options available in terms of ladder safety equipment, there’s really no excuse for placing workers at risk. Keep your employees safe when working at height and protect your business at the same time with ladder safety equipment from SLG.
For more information on precautions for working at height or ladder safety equipment, why not drop us a line today? Call now on 0117 9381 600 or get in touch online by clicking the link below.
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A water storage tank manufacturing firm was recently fined thousands of pounds for failing to prevent a fall that left an employee with multiple fractures of the head, ribs, fingers and shoulder blade.
SHP Online recently reported that Braithwaite Engineers Ltd had been fined £9,400 - plus costs of £1,680.75 - after pleading guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) noted that the fall, which occurred in October 2017, might have been prevented if the company had provided suitable and clear instructions and working at height training.
HSE Inspector Will Powell stated:
"Falls from vehicles can be overlooked by employers...[but] simple measures would have prevented this accident."
Working on a lorry bed can be dangerous if there's no barrier around the edges of the platform.
Here at SafetyLiftinGear, we sell lorry edge protection straps to help you minimise the risk to your employees while they're working on an elevated lorry bed.
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These high-visibility straps are easy to attach, and they reduce the likelihood that a worker will fall off the edge of the lorry and injure him/herself.
Our RJ200 hangman frame lorry / container access anchor is also ideal for improving worker safety on raised lorry beds.
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This frame can be used as a semi-permanent mobile anchor point for safety harnesses when working at height. It stands roughly 6.25 metres tall and allows for a working radius of 3 metres (approximately 9.84 feet).
Please call SafetyLiftinGear on 0117 9381 600 or contact us online if you'd like to discuss your height safety requirements. We're more than happy to recommend products, and we can even provide bespoke fall protection solutions for particularly demanding or unusual jobs.
The dangers of working at height have hit the headlines once again this week after two companies were heavily fined for putting their workers' safety at risk.
According to industry watchdog, Safety & Health Practitioner, an incident in April 2016 saw pipe repair workers in Bilston exposed to significant risk during a job at a warehouse owned by James Durrans & Sons Ltd.
The contractors, working for Kingswinford Engineering Co Ltd, were hired to fix pipework on the roof of the warehouse; however, the conditions provided were shockingly reckless, posing a variety of dangers for those working on the job.
The nature of the task required workers to be hoisted to the roof in a forklift man-cage; however, the forklift fell short of the roof, leaving a three-foot gap.
The roof was then only accessible by climbing from the cage to the roof. Worse still, the roof itself was said to be slippery and wet with no protective barrier in place to prevent a fall.
An investigation by the HSE concluded that neither the warehouse owners or the repair company had conducted a proper risk assessment and no safety system had implemented for the job.
The HSE findings highlighted that both James Durrans & Sons Ltd and Kingswinford Engineering Co Ltd had assumed the other had the safety procedures covered.
This gross negligence led both parties to plead guilty to breaching sections of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
The result saw Kingswinford Engineering fined to the tune of £18k with costs of £9k, while Durrans & Sons were fined an even heftier £100k with costs of £20k.
The news story highlights the importance of worker/contractor safety on site and the financial ramifications associated with such an oversight.
Despite the lofty fines levied against both companies involved, the price could have been far steeper should an accident have occurred.
If you or your company are involved in working at height, suitable and appropriate fall protection measures are a must – it could save a life.
For more information on fall arrest and fall protection, call now on 0117 9381 600 or get in touch online using the button below.
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