Same old… Same old….
Checking through some figures last week and came across these on a subject that in H&S Construction terms have probably gobbled up more inches that any other subject. Probably because every project has some aspects of Working At Heights.
· fined £15,000 with £4,230 costs when their employee who was taking measurements of a flat roof fell approx 6m from the edge. no measures taken to prevent a fall from height
· fined £12,500 and £1,000 costs when an electrician fell 3m through a rooflight. no risk assessment … no guard rails
· fined £18,000 and £4,210 costs when four bricklayers fell 2.4m … first floor of a house collapsed under the weight of the men and a stack of concrete blocks … no formal safe system of work or written method statement
· fined £1,500 and costs of £315 … employees risking serious injury as they dismantled a roof whilst standing on top of it with no form of protection to prevent them from falling – er!
New Work at Height Regulations 2005 came into force on 6 April 2005 with the aim is to ensure that all work at height properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner which is – so far as is reasonably practical – safe. Planning must include provision for emergencies and rescue. Employers should also ensure that no person takes part in work at height, including organisation or supervision, unless he is competent, or if being trained, is supervised by a competent person and apply to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall that could cause injury
… So… are they being taken seriously enough?
Falls from height remain the most common kind of workplace fatality. Maintaining the momentum of the HSE’s successful Shattered Lives Campaign through 2008/09 the HSE are introducing a range of new initiatives. …
WAIT (Work at height, Access equipment, Information, Tool) e-Learning tool aimed at the occasional user of access equipment, WAIT will help choice of the safest type of access equipment for work at height … WAIT will be launched in summer 2009
Our colleagues in the South East are bringing all of these issues in the WAH space together for a one day event where the current issues can be shared and discussed, details are enclosed along with the link to an application form if you are interested. CDM2007.org hopes to be there for the Lunch time demonstration sessions so ‘see you there’ maybe?
South of England Work at Height Conference at Lingfield Park Racecourse on Monday 28th September 2009
Major event for the industry – organised by the team who have been highly supportive to the work into public services by the CDM2007.org team – and CDM2007.org will be exhibiting there…
… Access Industry Forum have a high presence at this event as will the HSE and other major parts of the industry – important key speakers in the industry will deliver important messages – a not-to-be-missed event in all of our diaries!
… the conference programme throughoout the day looks at the changes and innovations that have been introduced within the construction sector since the introduction of the Work at Height Regulations 2005
Full details on this website
… see a great range of access equipment brought into the huge exhibition area – a real feast for tonka-toy enthusiasts … Booking Form
The key thing about this industry is that it is huge and people change, which means that the same messages have to be repeated to ensure that accident figures stay low… why do we need injury and death to remind us when CDM2007.org and conference like this can do it ‘injury free’
…post your own comments below …
