Health & Safety Update (April 2010)

Working at height-again!

In 2009, more than 4,000 employees suffered major injuries after falling from height at work, and 21 workers in the construction industry died.

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 came into force on 6 April 2005. The Regulations introduce a hierarchy for use when planning and risk assessing work at height. Duty holders should consider how to avoid work at height. If this is not possible, they should take steps to prevent a fall occurring. Where they cannot prevent a fall, they should take steps to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall.

Working at height is defined as 'work in any place, including a place at or below ground level, or obtaining access to or egress from such a place, while at work, except by a staircase where, if suitable measures were not taken, a person could fall a distance likely to cause personal injury'. This means that anyone undertaking ANY work where they could fall is working at height and therefore the risks this poses must be taken into consideration and properly controlled as far as is reasonably practicable.

For work at height which is not simple low risk work, it is advisable for employers and those in control of workplaces including construction sites, to have in place a formal authorisation procedure which ensures that a risk assessment is documented and all correct safety precautions have been implemented by employees and contractors, prior to work at height starting.  This is known as a permit to work system - a formal written system used to control certain types of work that are potentially hazardous, such as work at height.