Work at Height’ means any type of work where there are no precautions in place, and a person could fall a distance liable to cause serious injury.
How to stop injury
Take steps to plan a job, that is supervised and carried out by experienced people. Make sure you have the correct machine or tools for the job at hand.
There are 3 steps to follow before working at height.
- Avoid working at height if you don’t need to
- Prevent falls using safety equipment if you must work at height
- Minimise the risk and consequences of falling by using the right equipment
Use a appropriate PPE such as a harness or energy absorbing lanyard. Make sure the connections are in good working order, if in doubt, get it checked by a professional.
Top Dos and Don’t when working at height:
DO
- As much work from the ground
- Ensure you or workers are regularly trained, such as IPAF
- Make sure the equipment is suitable for the job, is it tall, strong or stable enough?
- Be careful with fragile surfaces
- Make sure you have PPE
DON’T
- Use ladders or step ladders for long or heavy tasks
- Overreach – if you need to over reach you haven’t got the correct equipment
- Let someone that isn’t trained do the job!
For further info you can check out the HSE