7 minute read
Reducing risks when working at heights
Working at height is risky, but it should not be dangerous. There are ways of managing the risks to ensure that everyone involved goes home safely at the end of the day.
The duty to manage the risks onsite is not new, nor is the high rate of injury from people slipping and falling from height. As an industry the construction sector has made some real strides to reduce the number of injuries, but it is clear that we all still have work to do. The introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) put a renewed focus on health and safety for many businesses. The challenge for the construction industry around working from heights is translating this into sustained cultural change that results in fewer injuries and helps your bottom line. The Act also introduced the concept of overlapping duties. This puts a duty on all parties involved on a site to work together to manage health and safety. This boils down to having conversations with all players involved onsite and deciding which business should take the lead in managing the identified risks. For example, as a sparky on site, have you spoken to the gib stopper about keeping the floor clear so you can both use ladders or work platforms safely? Essentially this is a return to the good old days when we used to talk to each other on site, but now it includes a discussion about risk. One of the key recommendations was that scaffolding should be used wherever possible, even on residential builds. Today it is common to see scaffolding on sites and industry has largely embraced this shift in working, with many taking advantage of the onsite efficiencies that come with using scaffolding. Of course, there are a lot of myths out there. Everyone’s heard them – you can’t use stepladders or you have to use a scaffold or a harness if you’re working a foot off the ground. Often people will say, “WorkSafe’s new regulations” or something similar. But the truth is that there are no new hard and fast rules and regulations. In fact, HSWA was deliberately designed to be flexible. It is up to you how you manage the risk from working at height. While we recommend the use of scaffolding, there is no rule requiring you to do so. But why wouldn’t you? Not only does a good scaffold improve worker safety – once it’s erected it can lift productivity on site, helping everyone from chippies to sparkies and painters. Of course not every project requires full-on scaffolding. Sometimes a job is short duration and low risk. That’s when it might be perfectly reasonable to use a step ladder or a safety harness instead. There’s a big difference between one worker replacing a few weatherboards in a couple of hours and building a new dwelling from the foundations up. The cultural change has been rapid. It is great to see that it is no longer acceptable for a builder to walk the top plate without safety systems in place. That sort of cowboy behaviour is seen as unprofessional. While industry has got behind improving the way that working from height is carried out, a fresh look at the risks is required if we are to reduce the injuries further.
Edge protection
What is edge protection?
Edge protection helps prevent people, tools, and materials from falling: • Around the perimeters of a work area • Around openings • Where brittle material cannot safely support the weight of a person.
Edge protection comes in different forms: • A proprietary system ie a system bought “off the shelf” • Guardrailing and/or physical barrier constructed from materials or components that form a guardrail and/or physical barrier • Scaffolding in the form of a temporary edge protection system for working at height • Where the hazard of working at height cannot be eliminated, edge protection should be used to isolate workers from a fall.
When is edge protection required?
Edge protection is the preferred control for preventing falls from roofs on single-storey buildings because it isolates multiple workers from the risk of a fall. If this is not practicable then the use of scaffolding (more detail below), mobile elevating work platforms or temporary work platforms are more acceptable alternatives. Provide edge protection on all the exposed edges of a roof, including the perimeter of buildings, skylights or other fragile roof materials, and any openings in the roof. This also applies to openings and edges of floor areas. Working at height means working in a place where a person could be injured if they fell from one level to another. Rather than thinking about how high the fall will be, consider how someone could fall and what they might land on.
Planning the work
Plan for when you will need edge protection, how it will be installed, and how to manage risks to safety during installation. Sourcing and erecting edge protection may take time, and the configuration will depend on a number of factors, such as how many workers will be in the work area at any one time, and the pitch of the roof.
Installing edge protection
Install edge protection as early as possible on a job so multiple groups of contractors, sub-contractors and workers can use it throughout the project (eg builders, electrical workers, and roofers). Construction and installation must take into account the forces that are likely to be applied to the edge protection as a result of the work undertaken. Do not install it from the roof. Inspect edge protection regularly, especially after a storm or other occurrence that could affect its ability to prevent falls from height.
Guardrails
Must be Installed by a competent person.
Scaffolding
Installed by a certified scaffolder or competent person depending on height of the scaffold. Note: Where a person may fall 5 m or more (ie the highest platform is 5m or more above the ground), the work must be notifed to WorkSafe. Information sourced from: worksafe.govt.nz | 0800 030 040 CT
Making Height Easy
Like many successful New Zealand businesses, Accessman started from humble beginnings and is now New Zealand’s leading specialised hire company, providing scissor lifts, cherry pickers and knuckle booms.
In 1994 the construction industry was feeling pressure from the Department of Labour to ensure that all work practices complied with national Occupational Safety and Health Standards. At the same time, companies needed to increase their focus on profitability. The entrepreneurial mind of Christchurch-based electrician, Ross Pickersgill was quick to identify a solution to both.
That very same year, Ross purchased his first scissor lift which was hired out to contractors when Ross was not using it. This piece of equipment not only made working at height safe but it increased productivity by removing the need to continually build scaffolding. Armed with a business plan, Accessman was born, and is now one of the largest specialist hire equipment company’s in New Zealand.
With almost 30 years’ experience in the access industry, Accessman has cultivated exclusive knowledge and skills, an arsenal that has catered to the trickiest requests across many different markets, and it continues to evolve with the times to predict and cater for the developments of the future.
“Our business is first and foremost about ‘our people’, both internally and externally. Without the right team we can’t provide the service that we’re renowned for. Team culture and the retention of knowledge that is only gained from extensive experience within the industry is paramount. Our staff are passionate about their roles, and consistently go above and beyond – something that we certainly don’t take for granted”, Accessman Group General Manager, Lena Harrington says.
With 4 locations in the North Island, 5 in the South Island and 4 Training Centres, Accessman’s network is able to provide height solutions to a diverse range of industries.
Lena notes that the strength of the brand speaks for itself. She says Accessman has been instrumental in leading the access industry as technology has changed – and this swift introduction of new models and upgrades, combined with excellent service and high-quality equipment, has solidified the brand at the forefront of the market.
0800 2GET HIGH
www.accessman.co.nz
