At Safety Harness Direct, we understand and care about your safety when working at height. If you work at height frequently, you will be well aware of the dangerous risks that come with this type of work. To give you the essential information you need to safely work at height, we have put together a complete guide for your convenience.
If you're here for a quick answer, you can use the clickable contents below:
- What is Working at Height?
- Work at Height Jobs & Examples
- Risks of Working at Height
- Working at Height Regulations
- Safety Tips for Working at Height
- Essential Work at Height Equipment
What is Working at Height?
Put simply, according to the Health and Safety Executive:
"Work at height means work in any place where, if precautions were not taken, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury."
This essentially means that anything above ground level where you could get hurt counts as working at height!
Work at Height Jobs & Examples
Whilst you may consider work at height jobs to be extremely dangerous and you may imagine a man swinging from a harness at 10,000ft, you may also be surprised that some domestic jobs that count as working at height, including gutter cleaning, painting, window cleaning and roof cleaning.
In trade, the following professions tend to work at height on a regular basis due to the nature of their job:
- Telecommunications Technicians
- Commercial Window Cleaners
What Are the Risks of Working at Height?
There are many risks of working at height, especially since you will be working on an elevated area which will emphasise any injury or mistep. When you work at height, or you're planning to work at height, one of the most important things to conduct is a work at height risk assessment. An assessment means you can organise, plan and identify any precautions that you need to take before taking on your task.
The Work at Height Risk Assessment
A work at height risk assessment will assess any risks that could damage or harm the employee(s) working at height. Some examples of risks when working at height include: slips, trips, falls, dropping or falling equipment, mishaps with ladders, fragile surfaces, poor edge protection and insufficient PPE (to name a few).
Work at Height Mission Statement
A work at height mission statement is a description of a logical sequence of movements or actions which outline exactly how a job should be carried out. If any employee follows these instructions by the statement, then you can be assured that the health and safety regulations have been secured and managed in the particular scenario.
Mission statements can be produced and generated after conducting a risk assessment for working at height. Unlike a risk assessment, work at height mission statements are not a legal requirement, but they are incredibly useful for preventing life-changing injuries and for managing and monitoring complex construction work.
Work at Height Rescue Plan
A work at height rescue plan is an essential procedure that must be carried out to prevent any accidents when working at height. To find an example of a work at height rescue plan, check out our blog by clicking the link.
Working at Height Regulations
Introduced in 2005, the Work at Height Regulations were implemented to 'prevent death and injury caused by a fall from height'. The Work at Height Regulations (2005) are what employers must use and follow - by law - to keep their employees safe on-site.
Most importantly, the first 3 steps outlined in the Work at Height Regulations are to AVOID, PREVENT and MINIMISE any risk of injury or death.
To do this, employers must ensure that:
- All work at height is properly planned and organised
- Employees working at height are competent in the task/job at hand
- The risks of working at height are assessed
- Appropriate equipment is selected and used for working at height
- The risks of working on, or near, a fragile surfaces is managed
- The equipment used is properly inspected and maintained
How can you ensure that someone is competent to work at height?
Someone who is competent to work at height will hold the relevant and necessary skills, knowledge and experience needed to carry out the task at hand safely and effectively.
It is the responsibility of the construction contractor, construction manager, and any employer, to ensure that the employees hired are competent enough to do the job with their own and others' safety in mind.
Top Safety Tips For Working at Height
As we have already discussed, there are many things can can go wrong when working at height. With the correct procedures such as a risk assessment and mission statements (as part of a job safety analysis) in place, you can minimise the risk of life-changing injuries - and even death.
To stay on top of your game when working at height, adhere to the following tips to make your work environment safer for yourself and the other workers around you:
1. Inspect Your Equipment On a Regular Basis
2. Be Cautious and Safe When Using a Ladder (you can read a bit about the HSE's ladder resource here)
3. Add Guard Rails When Possible
4. Provide Proper and Inspected PPE
5. Take Consistent Work at Height Safety Training
What Equipment Do You Need to Work at Height?
There are an abundance of different pieces of PPE that you may require when working from height Firstly, in order to select the right equipment for working at height, you will need to think about the task you are carrying out.
We have a variety of PPE available depending on your unique work situation. Simply click the link and select one of 12 work situations where working at height may be required.
Safety Harness Direct: Buy Safety Harnesses, PPE and More!
We hope you've enjoyed reading this working at height guide. If you require any further advice or guidance surrounding safety harnesses and working from height, do not hesitate to contact our helpful team.
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