Comment: Work at Height Regulations
April 1st 2005 By Gary Gallagher, MD, Turner Access
The new Work at Height Regulations are primarily concerned about reducing fatalities and major injuries. In 2003/4 falls from height accounted for 67 fatal accidents at work and nearly 4000 major injuries. Falls remain the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the biggest causes of major injury. The HSE believe these the new regulations will provide the cornerstone to improve industry standards for work at height and thereby reduce deaths and injuries.
The new regulations came into force on the 6th April, 2005, they consolidate previous legislation relating to work at height and will apply to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause injury.
Duty holders must ensure: - Proper organisation and planning
- Those involved are competent on the work at height activity (no matter what this may be)
- The risks for that activity have been assessed and that appropriate work equipment is selected and used
- Equipment is properly inspected and maintained
- Risks involving fragile surfaces are properly controlled
The regulations set out a simple hierarchy for managing and selecting the most suitable equipment. This should form the basis of the risk assessment:
- AVOIDANCE – Don’t work at height. Is there another way of achieving the task?
- PREVENT – Use work equipment and/or other measures that PREVENT the risk of falls.
- MITIGATE – where the risk cannot be eliminated, use work equipment to minimise the distance and consequences, should a fall occur.
Because the requirements of the hierarchy in the regulations also apply to Erection, Dismantling and Alteration of Scaffolding, the editor thought it appropriate to invite my comments. The reason for this is my company Turner Access, (www.turner-access.co.uk), manufacture and deploy a universal Advanced Guardrail system, for use with all types of Scaffolding.
At every stage within the aforementioned hierarchy, the regulations require that ‘collective measures’ should be selected in preference to ‘personal measures’.
Collective measures are those that provide protection to more than one person at a time and are generally ‘passive’ in nature – that is to say, they require no action on the part of the user to be effective – guard-rails are a passive measure.
Turner Access has incorporated the PlusGard Advanced Guard-rail system into the Erection, Dismantling and Alteration of Towers, Wall Scaffolds (fully decked and Top lift). Birdcage and many other more complicated designs. The company is eager to share its knowledge with industry in general.
Some of the more safety led organisations in the UK are already insisting on PlusGard’s use e.g. BNFL and at T5 (the Largest construction site in Europe, where Clive Johnson (BAA) has written a standard around Advanced Guard-rails for use with Aluminium Towers.
There will be a future for many more now thanks to these new regulations and the innovative equipment and procedures that will be necessary to satisfy them, but only if those in position of responsibility, make it happen.
Who are those responsible? – the regulations place duties on employers and indeed any person or organisation that controls (includes power of regulating) others.
In selecting suitable equipment and/or work methods, one question needs to be asked - are other more suitable measures to prevent the risk of a fall available? More articles from Turner Access Ltd: | 
