Post on 15-Jan-2016
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WORKING AT HEIGHTMOHSG
30 March 2005Chris Gallagher
HSE Safety Unit
Overview
• What is the problem?
• What is HSE doing?
• What should you do?
• New Work At Height Regulations
• Practical examples
What is the problem?
• Fatal accidents falls from height 2003/04
- 67 fatalities (average1992/02 was 78)- Largest cause 29% - Construction 67% of all fatals 2002/03• Major injuries 2002/03- 4256 majors all workers (14%)
(average 1996/03 was 5450)
Costs and consequences
• HumanDeath or injury,bereavement, trauma
• Business Lost production, experience, reputation and higher insurance
• Consequences
Prosecution
What is HSE doing?
• HSE set targets to reach by 2010• Programme working is the method
chosen by HSE to reach these targets • Injury reduction is a component of the
programme • Falls from height is a topic within the
injury reduction program• Falls from height are a key HSE target
HSE is targeting falls
• Inspections
• Accident investigations
• Complaints
What is work at height?
• Work in any place (including access or egress) where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury
• Law has always required control
• Does not include slips or trips on the same level or falls on stairs
What do people fall from
• Ladders
• Scaffolds
• Working Area or Platforms
• Roofs
• Vehicles
• Plant and Equipment
• Racking
The 2 metre rule
• Currently no 2 metre rule in WAHR
• Use risk assessment to determine whether precautions are needed and in what form
• Precautions are needed when there is a risk of injury
Low falls
• Employers need to tackle low falls
• Consultation has shown that employers are concerned about workers safety below 2 metres as well as above it
• Have you got low fall risks?
• WAHR advocates sensible risk assessment and pragmatic precautions
Low falls cont.
• Working platform to the left of a printing machine
• Approx 1 metre high• Work with back facing
edges• Risk of a fall onto sharp
edges• Guard rails required?• Platform in front OK?
Low falls cont.
What should you do?
• Identify the activities and precautions involving falls from height
- Includes work on or near fragile surfaces
• Select appropriate equipment and ensure it is well maintained and inspected
• Have systems for the procurement and control of contractors
Identify the activities and precautions
• Ensure risk assessments have identified work at height activities both routine and non routine
• Have workers been instructed in necessary precautions
• Have fragile surfaces been identified and are access points marked
Identified suitable precautions?
• No fall protection• Working on unprotected
fragile surfaces• Unsafe access?• No risk assessment • Workers not instructed
in necessary precautions
Fragile surfaces
• Identification• Warning signs• Control access• Protection Required
if you need to work on or near fragile materials
• Contractors aware
Select appropriate well maintained equipment
• Ensure risk assessments have identified appropriate equipment for the work
• Use a selection hierarchy
• Maintained
• Inspected
Selection of appropriate equipment?
Well maintained?
Inspected?
Tower scaffolds
• Erected by competent persons in accordance with the manufacturer/suppliers instructions
• Firm level ground• Adequate guard rails,
toe boards and platform• Height not exceed 3
times minimum base dimension
Fatal accident
Mobile elevating working platforms (MEWPS)
• Safe plant
• Safe site
• Safe operator
MEWP’s
Illegal MEWP!
Working platforms on fork lift trucks
• Occasional use only• Working Platforms
Must be purpose built Guard rails Secured Inspected (6 month LOLER)
• Don’t Stand on forks Stand on pallets
Work restraint and fall arrest equipment
• Work restraint prevents the user reaching a position where a fall could occur
• Fall arrest includes PPE (harness, lanyard, inertia reels) Also nets and airbags
• Fall prevention should take precedence• User training• Inspection of equipment• Clearance distances, deployment zones, sharp
edges• Rescue plan
Ladders
• Do you need to use them ?
• Primarily a means of access
• Not suitable for two-handed or heavy work
• Suitable for short duration light duty work
• Critically review work from ladders
Ladders cont.
• In good condition • Angled 1 out for
every 4 up.• Secured or
stabilized• On firm level ground• Used by trained
persons
Appropriate use of ladders?
Selection and control of contractors
• Clients have a duty
• Selection – are contractors competent to work at height
• Communication and co-operation
• Monitoring
• Review performance
The Work at Height Regulations 2005
• Bring into effect amendments to a European Directive on the use of work equipment
• Due to come into effect 6 April 2005• Single set of Regulations will cover all
industry sectors• Existing requirements covering work at height
in the Construction (H,S&W) Regs and the Workplace (H,S&W) Regs will be revoked
Important messages
• Build on existing good practice
• Those managing risk now will generally already comply
• Goal setting/sensible risk assessment
• Existing construction standards maintained
• Ladders not banned
Drivers for change
• Falls are the biggest killer in the workplace
• Existing piecemeal legislation • HSC wants single set of Regs for all
sectors• Centrepiece of HSC Falls From Height
Programme • Need to implement the Directive
New requirements
• The hierarchy may be new to some (particularly non construction)
• When selecting work equipment must now consider risks entailed with- Installation- Use- Dismantling- Rescue (associated with work equipment chosen)
New requirements cont.
• Some new terms• Take into account weather conditions• Guard rail heights to increase to at least
950mm for construction work (CHSW 910mm)
• Toe boards heights should be suitable and sufficient
• Some new technical requirements in the schedules
Application (Reg. 3)
• Employers, self employed, employees and others
• Contractors
• Employers in charge of premises where work at height is carried out
• Those in control of people at work, to the extent of their control
Organisation and planning (Reg. 4)
• Ensure work at height is properly planned
• Appropriately supervised• Carried out in a safe manner• Includes the selection of appropriate
work equipment • Plan for emergencies and rescue• Take into account weather conditions
Don’t loose the plot
Planning for emergencies and rescue
• Proportionate to the risk• Reasonably foreseeable
situations such as stuck equipment, deployed fall arrest
• Suspension trauma• Over-reliance on the fire
brigade
Weather conditions
• Ensure work at height is carried out only when weather conditions do not jeopardise the health and safety of workers
• This is an absolute duty
• Strong winds will be the most common reason for halting work at height
Competence (Reg. 5)
• Employer shall ensure that persons engaged in any work at height activities are competent
• Persons must also be competent in
- Organising
- Planning
- Supervision
- Selection of appropriate work equipment
- Use of work equipment
Competent?
Avoidance of risk from work at height (Reg. 6 Hierarchy)
• Regulation 6 is at the heart of WAHR• First step is take account of a risk
assessment to identify appropriate precautions (Reg. 6(1))
• Reg. 6 sets out the HIERARCHY of - AVOID- PREVENT, or- MITIGATE FALLS from work at height
Avoid the need to work at height
Prevent the fall
• Using an EXISTING PLACE OF WORK
- includes access and egress
OR
• Use WORK EQUIPMENT to PREVENT the fall
What is an existing place of work?
• A place that is already safe
• Does not require the addition of anything to prevent a fall
• Includes safe means of access and egress
Create a safe existing place of work?
Use work equipment to prevent a fall
Mitigate the consequences of a fall
• When fall prevention is not reasonably practicable provide work equipment to
- Minimise the distance and/or
consequences of a fall
Final step in the hierarchy
• Prevent any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury by,
- providing additional training and
instruction
- or take other additional suitable and
sufficient measures
Ladders and the hierarchy
• Bottom of hierarchy can be used to justify work from ladders
• Must consider fall prevention and mitigation first
• But ladders used just for access and/or short duration work can be justified instead of providing fall prevention or mitigation measures
• Also ladders can be used in conjunction with other work equipment eg fall arrest
Example of how the hierarchy applies : Roof duct installation
• Avoid work at height• Prevent a fall by,
- Using an existing safe place of work or,
- Using work equipment to prevent a fall
• Mitigate a fall by using work equipment to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall
Selection of work equipment (Reg. 7)
• Give collective measures priority over personal protective measures
• Includes a list of principles which should be taken into account in the risk assessment when selecting work equipment most suited for the job
• Work equipment must be able to cope with foreseeable loadings and allow passage without risk
Principles for the selection of work equipment
• Take account of
- working conditions
- distance to be negotiated for access and
egress
- distance and consequences of a fall
- duration and frequency of use
- need for evacuation and rescue
- additional risk when installing,removing
Requirements for particular work equipment (Reg. 8)
• Lists requirements for particular work equipment via the schedules- Existing place of work, schedule 1- Guard rails etc, schedule 2- Working platforms inc scaffolds, schedule
3- Collective fall arrest safeguards, schedule
4- Personal fall protection, schedule 5- Ladders, schedule 6
Fragile surfaces (Reg. 9)
• Same principles as the Reg 6 hierarchy• Eliminate the need to pass across, work on,
from or adjacent to a fragile surface• Prevent a fall by ensuring suitable platforms,
coverings or similar means of support • Provide other suitable and sufficient means
for minimising the distance and consequences of a fall
• Provide warning notices at approaches to fragile surfaces
Avoid/eliminate the need to work on a fragile surface
Fragile surface with no fall prevention/protection
Falling objects and danger areas (Reg. 10 and 11)
• Prevent fall of material or object
• Prevent people from being struck by falling material or object
• Do not throw or tip material from height
• Store material and objects safely
• Prevent access to danger areas and clearly indicate them
Inspection of work equipment (Reg. 12)
• Inspection requirements are based on pre-existing duties
• PUWER Reg 6 no longer applies to work equipment for use during work at height (now covered by Reg 12 WAHR)
• Work equipment currently inspected under LOLER will continue to be inspected under LOLER
• 7 day inspection required for platforms used in construction
Requirements of Reg. 12
• Inspection after assembly or installation• Inspection at suitable intervals and after
exceptional circumstances• Scaffolding inspected every 7 days• No work equipment leaves or is
obtained from an undertaking without physical evidence of an inspection either under WAHR or LOLER
Inspection of places of work at height (Reg. 13)
• Involves the inspection of an existing place of work (place not needing work equipment to make safe)
• Before use check condition of surface, parapet, permanent rail or other such fixed/existing fall protection measures
Duties of persons at work (Reg. 14)
• Every person working under the control of another person shall report any activity or defect relating to WAH which is likely to endanger the safety of himself or another person
• Every person shall use any work equipment or safety device provided to him in accordance any training and instructions he has received
Some reassurance
• Do you follow current law and industry good practice?
• Do you assess risks, plan the work and act accordingly?
• Do you consider avoidance first then prevention and mitigation?
• Do you consider collective before personal protection?
• If yes, you should be able to comply
Next steps
• 1st Consultation ended April 04, 2nd Dec 04• 750 comments received • Ministerial approval 16 March 2005• Will be a brief plain English guide to the
Regulations• HSE will encourage and help industry
develop their own sector specific guidance• Implementation 6 April 2005
References
• Working on roofs INDG284• Preventing falls from boom type
MEWP’s Misc614• Avoiding falls from vehicles INDG395• Inspecting fall arrest equipment made
from webbing or rope INDG367• Use of contractors a joint responsibility
INDG368
More information
• Press release on HSE Website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2005/c05008.htm
• Copies of HSE’s simple guide to the Regulations will be available shortly and will be free to download at http://www.hse.gov.uk
• The Work at Height Regulations 2005 (S.I.2005 No 735) will be accessible shortly via the HMSO website at: http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si20050735.htm