What matters above all...

The Work At Height regulations have been in force since 2005, yet many mistakenly assume that the controls only apply to work being carried out well above ground level

by Navdip Dhillon

6 March 2008

Falls from height accounted for approximately 3350 major injuries and 46 deaths according to the Health and Safety Executive in 2005/2006. However it was not considered necessary to introduce a minimum ‘fall level’ to these regulations as there are more injuries from low level falls than from high level falls in the workplace.

Working at height within the regulations means:

• work in any place where there is a risk of falling a distance liable to cause personal injury including working at or below ground level

• moving about in the workplace that includes any gangway, stairway, scaffold, working platform (except for a staircase in a permanent workplace)

As these regulations do not impose a minimum fall level they may ‘catch’ activities that previously have been exempt from other legislation (eg the Construction Regulations 1996 which contain a minimum two metre fall level).

So while working on a scaffold or from a mobile elevated work platform are obvious examples of working at height if a person is working on the back of a lorry sheeting a load this would also constitute work at height.

Similarly if someone is unloading a delivery from a lorry with or near materials or objects stored in a manner where there is a risk of collapse or risk of items being tipped/falling on to a person the regulations will apply.

Depth

Working close to an excavation area or a cellar opening that someone could fall into and injure themselves would constitute ‘work at height’. Likewise, undertaking low level maintenance work such as changing light bulbs, electrical works, painting, or cleaning windows would all fall within the meaning of the regulations if this work was done at height.

Providing there is a risk of falling a distance that could cause injury, the WAHR will apply. Employers should not assume that if work is carried out at low level any consequent fall could not result in significant injury. It is incumbent upon employers to be aware of the duties imposed by the regulations not only to safeguard workers but also to avoid unwitting breaches and the possibility of a HSE fine and/or potentially costly personal injury litigation.

Key duties

The regulations place duties on employers, the self-employed and any person who controls the work of others (for example facilities managers or building owners who may contract others to work at height even where the worker is sent to another site or premises)

The key duties on employers are:

• to ensure all work at height is properly planned supervised and carried out in a manner that is safe

• in selecting work equipment employers are to give collective protection measures priority over personal protection measures (eg nets, airbags, guardrails before a safety harness)

• to ensure work at height is carried out only when weather conditions do not jeopardise the health and safety of anyone involved in the work

• to ensure no one engages in any activity (including those only planning or supervising the work) unless that person is competent to do so

• the equipment used for work at height is appropriately inspected (and in some instances there are requirements to prepare a report within 24 hours of inspection)

• the place where work at height is done is safe and has features to prevent a fall

• the risks from fragile surfaces, including to those passing across or near a fragile surface, must be properly controlled. A fragile surface would be any surface that would be liable to fail if any reasonably foreseeable load were applied to it

• the risks from falling objects must also be properly assessed and controlled. This includes ensuring nothing is stored in such a way that its movement is likely to injure someone

Risk

The core obligation is the avoidance of risks from height. Every employer must take account of a risk assessment pursuant to regulation 3 of the Management of Health and safety at Work Regulations 1999.

A risk assessment for using a stool to pick items from a shelf or to change a light bulb should be simple (eg not overloading yourself, not overstretching etc).

However the actions required to control risks for a complex construction project would involve significantly greater considerations.

If it is not possible to do the work other
than at height employers must take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent the risk of a fall that includes selecting the most suitable work equipment.

Where the measures taken above do not eliminate the risk of a fall occurring then employers must take suitable and sufficient measures to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall and to train those who will be working at height how to avoid falling and to minimise the risk of injury to themselves should they fall.

Navdip Dhillon is a solicitor specialising in Workplace Safety at law firm Weightmans