Reaching new heights
May 1st 2009

Falls from height remain the biggest killer in UK workplaces according to HSE statistics yet many employers are still not providing adequate training in this area.

Georgina Bisby visits fall protection specialists IKAR GB who suggest some factors to consider before specifying Work at Height training and also give her a taster height rescue course

At the beginning of a training session, the trainers at IKAR GB often ask for a show of hands from anyone who knows someone who has been killed working at height? "When all the hands go up you know that's why they are here," says Alan White, technical sales and training manager at IKAR GB.

Despite provisional statistics showing that 58 people died from falls from height at work in 2007/08 and a targeted campaign from the HSE to raise awareness of the risks associated with work at height (most recently through its memorable Shattered Lives campaign) a death is sometimes still what it takes to get people along to a training course.

I ask Alan if he has seen any shift in attitude since the introduction of The Corporate Manslaughter Act last year, and the Health & Safety Offences Act earlier this year. "There hasn't been a drastic change," suggests Alan, "but there is evidence of a transition taking place, particularly in terms of a wider interest in training at management level."

In the consultation period of the HSE's new strategy, which is to be released shortly, there has been a considerable focus on the value of strong leadership in health and safety and this approach is reflected in the structure of much work at height training.

"Often management will buy kit for their staff but know little, if anything about how it should be safely used and maintained, possibly they won't even be well versed on the Work at Height Regulations 2005," explains Alan. "This doesn't mean they need to take a specific course on the use of this equipment because these 'user skills' are dealt with in other sessions, but it is important for them to have an overview of how to manage work at height safely. A managing work at height course can help managers planning or controlling work at height activities to interpret the Work at Height Regulations and provide them with the knowledge to carry out a thorough risk assessment and install a safe system of work."

Engaging the workforce

Also central to the HSE's new strategy is the promotion of worker involvement and the value of helping employees and managers to build shared perspectives on health and safety.

Therefore it is also useful for employees to take a general height safety awareness course to gain an overview of all of the methods of controlling a potential fall from height. By equipping employees with this knowledge they can be confident in any given scenario that they are using the most appropriate method of working at height.

What constitutes height safety training?

General courses are a good start for height safety training but they don't mean you have the subject covered. Once the correct method of height access has been selected employees may need training in the use of specific equipment, maintenance of that equipment or in rescue and emergency response for Work at Height, but Alan feels these more specific courses are sometimes overlooked: "There is a problem with training providers who usually specialise in other areas of training drifting into height safety training." suggests Alan, who warns that companies should do their research before choosing a height safety course.

"You wouldn't go into a room and strip asbestos after just a ten minute training course," says Alan, "similarly many work at height scenarios require more than a taster course for delegates to be competent. Initiatives such as Tool Box Talks aren't training," urges Alan, "but a lot of managers think they are." That said, this doesn't mean that work at height training need be costly or time consuming, just that it must be suitably researched so that it is fit for purpose.

Many courses in the market and most of IKAR's courses can be completed in a day or half a day.

Living the high life

Health and safety training providers often argue that a well trained workforce will save businesses money but sometimes it can be difficult to quantify this. Many training companies, including IKAR will deliver training to your place of work or at a nearby location keeping time and travel costs down. For example to deliver the rescue course IKAR took me to a local scaffolding yard. This was a yard where they had recently been training scaffolders in height safety. Alan told me that since putting the scaffolders through the training courses the scaffolding company director had gone from having two teams of scaffolders to ten and as a consequence had won contracts that he had previously only dreamed of. This just goes to show that with a fully trained workforce you really can aim high.

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