Industry body warns of threat to Work at Height regs

[THE ACCESS INDUSTRY FORUM (AIF) has warned that the government is planning to scrap the UK’s Work at Height Regulations at the end of this year, and has launched a campaign to force a change of mind.

“This law is important to anyone who works at height as part of their job,” the forum stated. “It’s a daily occurrence, with an estimated 10 million of us climbing a ladder, ascending scaffolding or finding another way to work at height every year. This encompasses everyone from construction workers and steeplejacks to teaching assistants, shop workers and artists.”

The regulations set out what workers need to do to manage risks from working at height, and provide a simple set of rules that prevent people from falling. Without them, employers wouldn’t have to ensure workers are competent, select suitable access equipment for each task or inspect that equipment regularly.

The need to address the specific risks involved in working at height has been recognised in legislation for nearly 60 years, but historically only covered the construction sector. The 2005 Work at Height Regulations marked a major step change, with protection finally extended to people in all industries who work at height.

Those regulations are covered by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament. The Bill seeks to remove EU-derived laws that remain on the UK statute book following Brexit. It aims to ‘sunset’ over 2,400 laws; the Work at Height Regulations comprise just one of them. There are others within the health and safety category, including the Manual Handling Operations Regulations and Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations.

If the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill passes, the whole lot will automatically be axed on 31 December 2023 unless the government takes action to save individual regulations.

The AIF continued: “We need to do more to prevent falls from height, not weaken the protections that are already embedded in workplaces across the UK and have been working well for 17 years.

“The UK is a world-leader in preventing falls from height and should be proud of our consistently low fatality rates and our internationally recognised expertise. The Work at Height Regulations are a cornerstone of our national strategy to prevent falls. But by the end of next year, they could be gone.”

In British workplaces the number of falls from height has declined while the Work at Height Regulations have been in place. The year before they were introduced there were 67 fatal falls, making up 29% of total fatalities. Last year, there were 29 fatal falls, which was 24% of total fatalities.

However, falling from height is still the most common cause of workplace fatalities – the AIF points out that there have been 683 since 2005. It also causes 8% of non-fatal injuries, according to statistics released by the Health & Safety Executive in November.

Falls from height create devastated families and life-changing injuries. They lead to mental health problems, financial worries and long-term care needs. The consequences can last a lifetime and they affect society as a whole. The annual cost to society is £620m, which covers NHS spending, benefit payments and tax losses.

The Access Industry Forum – which unites the 10 principal trade associations and federations involved in work at height – has submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee, which is now considering the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

AIF chair Peter Bennett OBE declared: “Employers don’t want falls from height in their workplaces. They want their workers to be safe and free from harm. They also want to avoid the investigations, negative publicity, delays, increased insurance premiums and upheaval of responding to an accident.

“The Work at Height Regulations is a compact piece of legislation that creates a useful framework for employers to manage the risks and avoid falls from height. The rules are straightforward and practical; they’re embedded in existing policies, procedures and training and, although they’re not perfect, the most important thing is that they work. I’m in no doubt that the Work at Height Regulations have saved lives and if this legislation cannot be rescued from the scrapheap it’s workers who will pay the highest price of all.”

The AIF is urging people to write to their MPs to ask them to push for the Work at Height Regulations to be assimilated into UK law and excluded from ‘sunset clauses’ within the EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

There is a Save the Working at Height Regulations Campaign newsletter, which can be subscribed to via accessindustryforum.org. uk/#newslettersignup. q