Safety Advice for Falling From Height

7/31/2019 Safety Advice for Falling From Height

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Safety Advice For Falling From Height

According to Labour Department’s statistics, the numbers of occupational

injuries caused by person being fall from height in year 2009 and 2010 were

1597 and 1633 respectively. Fatal accident under the same category in year

2009 and 2010 were 25 and 15 respectively.

The daily operations of Marine and Boatyard involve working at height tasks.

Legislation requiring employer to take adequate steps to prevent any person on

the site for falling, especially for working from a height of 2 metres or more.

This report aims to review existing types of work in Marine and Boatyard

which involve working at height aspect. Current safety control and procedure

have been reviewed and recommendation for improvement are listed at the end

of this report.

Working at Height

Work at height is work in any place, including a place at, above or below

ground level, where a person could be injured if they fall from that place. Access

and egress to a place of work can also be considered as work at height. Although

the legislation defined work at above 2 metres is working at height, fall from less

than 2 metres high may also cause injury.

Tasks currently conducting at Marine and Boatyard which consider as working

at height are as follow:

a) Sanding or Painting work for yacht (~2m – 4m)

b) Accessing deck of yacht on hardstanding (~3m – 5m)

c) Install or repair windvane at top of mast (>12m)

Existing Equipment and Procedure

a) Accessing height with ladders

Straight ladder is most commonly used on

hardstanding for access to yachts. Necessaryprecaution should be taken when using straight

ladder:

i. Always inspect the ladder prior to using it.

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ii. Always maintain a 3-point (two hands and a foot, or two feet and a hand)contact on the ladder when climbing.

iii. Keep the body near the middle of the step and always face the ladder while climbing.

iv. Ladders must be free of any slippery material on the rungs, steps or feet.

v. Do not use the top step/rung of a ladder as a step/rung unless it wasdesigned for that purpose.

vi. Use a ladder only on a stable and level surface, unless it has beensecured (top or bottom) to prevent displacement.

vii. Do not move or shift a ladder while a person or equipment is on theladder.

viii. An extension or straight ladder used to access an elevated surface must

extend at least 1 meter above the point of support.

ix. The proper angle for setting up a ladder is to place its base a quarter of the working length of the ladder from the wall or other vertical surface.

Pros

1. Light weight and easy for transportation.

2. Cheaper than scaffold andless setup cost.

3. Does not require competentperson to setup.

Cons

1. Easy to shift and fall.

2. Risk exists at the time beforeladder had been fastened toanchor point.

3. Extra manpower require at thetime of setup to stabilize theladder.

b) Horse scaffold as working platformHorse scaffold is a piece of board sitting on

top of two wooden horses to use as a workingplatform. It is commonly used on hardstandingfor sanding and painting works. The board isfastened to the wooden horse by C-clamp.

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Pros

1. Easy to setup.

2. Cheaper than scaffold andless setup cost.

3. Does not require competentperson to setup.

Cons

1. It will collapse when C-clampfail.

2. No guard rails to preventworker to fall.

3. Equipment and tools may falloff from platform easily.

c) Use Bosun’s Chair to work at top of mast.A Bosun’s chair is a type of supported rigging

harness. It was commonly used to elevate worker to work at the top of mast. Worker sits on Bosun’schair and then being lifted up by crane, worker wears a full body safety harness which anchors tothe hook.

Pros

1. Easy to setup.

2. Cheaper than Crane/ForkMounted Access Platform.

3. Less chance to damage themast.

Cons

1. Uncomforted.

2. Less protection to worker.

3. It may fall when loop loosenedfrom hook.

Improvement and Alternativea) Longer straight ladder with rugged shoes

A longer straight ladder can be used to access deck of yachtwhich is lower than 3.5 meters. Ladder such as Werner D1512,which could work for height up to 12 feet and its physical lengthis 15 feet. It is long enough to provide 1 meter section ashandle when accessing the deck. The tip of ladder placed

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between stanchions, will stop from shifting. The rugged shoes make it morestable on different surface.

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b) Rolling ladder A rolling ladder can be used to access deck of yacht which

is higher than 3.5 meters. It provides ease for climbing and

mobility for moving around where other ladders can not. It is

safe when moving up and down the steps, and the handrails

provide better gripping.

c) Slab clamp guardrail Slab clamp guardrail is a stanchion that can clamp onto

a platform, then inserting guardrails and kick-board toprovide a temporary protection. It does not require hugeamount of workmanship. It can be installing on existinghorse scaffold to prevent worker from falling, but still cannot resolve issue such as C-clamp failure.

d) Staging stand Staging stand is a ready-made stand which can easily

transport to the location of work. After inserting guardrailsand platform board, it becomes a ready to use safetyworking platform. The setup is as easy as a horse scaffold,and does not require huge amount of workmanship.

e) Aluminium scaffold Aluminium scaffold is the most stable setup for working at

height, but it requires huge amount of workmanship for setupand built.

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f) Crane/Fork mounted access platform

Crane/Fork mounted access platform is a basket

designed to be used either slung from the hook of an

overhead crane or mounted on the forks of a forklift truck.

Entry to the platform is via an inwards opening gate on the

one side. Gate is self-closing and has a gate arrester to

prevent the gate being opened when the platform is

elevated.

Recommendation

Marine department have placed order to purchase longer straight ladder. Itwill be in operation soon.

Boatyard department will consider purchasing two pieces of rolling ladders for trial to decide how many would be needed for the operations.

An alternative for horse scaffold is to install slab clamp guardrail but this is justa temporary solution; staging stand is a long term solution. For working at heightabove 3.5 meters, erection of aluminium scaffold will be an ideal solution for better protection.

An alternative for Bosun’s Chair is the crane/fork mounted access platformwhich will be a more practical solution.

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Safety Advice for Falling From Height

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