{"id":1227,"date":"2014-01-29T07:59:57","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T14:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.constructonomics.com\/blog\/?p=1227"},"modified":"2019-04-02T02:19:23","modified_gmt":"2019-04-02T09:19:23","slug":"top-safety-tips-for-working-at-height-in-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/29\/top-safety-tips-for-working-at-height-in-construction\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Safety Tips For Working At Height In Construction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 13px;\">Working at height is still one of the largest causes of workplace accidents; in the year 2012-2013, a total of 5,274 major falls from height were reported in the UK, and it was the biggest cause of fatal accidents in the workplace, reports <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kwdllp.com\/burn-injuries-on-construction-sites\/\">Laurie Donofrio<\/a>. Whilst working at height is essential for some construction projects, many of these accidents could be avoided with the simple implementation of proper training and the appropriate equipment. Take a look at the tips below for some advice on how to keep your workplace safe.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Familiarise Yourself With Regulations<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>First and foremost, you and your team should be aware of the current legislations surrounding your work. The latest version is the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/uksi\/2005\/735\/contents\/made\">Working At Height Regulations (2005)<\/a><\/strong> which, along with its revisions, lays out what every employer is obliged to do regarding planning, training, equipment and much more.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Carry Out Thorough Risk Assessments<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The law stipulates that employers and contractors must assess the risk of any work from height. You will need to firstly identify any hazards including risks of falls, slips and trips and any hazards related to the equipment or chemicals you are using for the job. Assess who may be harmed \u2013 some employees may be at more risk than others, and some members of the public could be at risk too.<\/p>\n<p>Record the conclusions you have made, and consider what precautions you can put in place. Can you get rid of the hazard altogether? Or can you at least control the situation so that there is the minimum of risk? Plan your precautions carefully to ensure a safe working environment.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Plan Access Routes<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>From the information you have gathered in your risk assessment, you should be set to plan safe access routes to carry out your work. Remember to avoid working from height wherever possible and, where it is required, put the necessary precautions in place such as scaffolding, lifting equipment and safe landing systems.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Provide Regular Health &amp; Safety Training<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s important that your staff have a full understanding of the risks involved in their work too, and how best to avoid them. Ensure that they receive regular training in the best practices for health and safety \u2013 RoSPA offer Working At Height Training which could be of use. If they are using any specialist equipment, it\u2019s essential that they have the right training to operate that efficiently too. For example, if you are using heavy duty lifting equipment, there are a range of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hse.gov.uk\/work-equipment-machinery\/loler.htm\">LOLER<\/a><\/strong> training courses available, which cover the Lifting Operations Lifting Equipment Regulations.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Take Care With Fragile Surfaces<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One of the biggest causes of accidents at height is workers falling through fragile surfaces, such as asbestos cement roofs. You can find a great quality <a href=\"https:\/\/www.safeatheights.com.au\/roof-access-hatch\/\">roof access hatch<\/a> and more at the link provided. They provide products that keep you safe and secure at great heights.\u00a0 That why it is important to have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sers.net.au\/asbestos-removal\/\">Asbestos Detection<\/a> test done. Take additional precautions around fragile surfaces to either avoid a fall \u2013 by not walking on it if at all possible or to minimise the impact if a fall was to occur with a landing system or netting suspended underneath.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Use The Correct Equipment<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is advised not to use ladders if the task involved heavy lifting or if it will last longer than 30 minutes. If you are carrying out heavy duty tasks at height, you may need specialist listing equipment. Scaffolding is a great safety feature or, if your staff are required to lift heavy items, you may want to look into purchasing lifting equipment such as a jib crane, lifting gantry or air hoist from a specialist retailer like <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.liftinggeardirect.co.uk\/\">Lifting Gear Direct.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Working at height is still one of the largest causes of workplace accidents; in the year 2012-2013, a total of 5,274 major falls from height were reported in the UK, and it was the biggest cause of fatal accidents in the workplace, reports <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kwdllp.com\/burn-injuries-on-construction-sites\/\">Laurie Donofrio<\/a>. Whilst working at height is essential for some construction [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1227"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1766,"href":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227\/revisions\/1766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructonomics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}