Lawford Kidd's Blog

Revised guidance for employers and employees on working at height has been launched by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The move comes as part of the Government’s commitment to crack down on regulations that it believes are overly complicated, out of date or too burdensome.

Working at height

Working at height is very common in the working environment, with an estimated ten million workers thought to carry out jobs that require them to work at height at some point every year.

Too many workers in the UK are continuing to suffer serious injury, or in some cases death, as a result of falls from height. This type of accident is particularly common in the construction sector, where workers on building sites are regularly expected to work several stories above the ground.

Working at Height Regulations

The inherent risks involved in working at height are obvious, and there are regulations in place that should help ensure these workers are protected as much as possible.

One of the key pieces of legislation providing this protection is the Work at Height Regulations 2005, in which Regulation 6(3) states: "Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling from a distance liable to cause personal injury."

A Leicester door-fitting firm has been fined after an employee was injured when he fell from a wooden crate fixed to a fork lift truck.

The 39 year-old man fractured his wrist, heel, ankle and elbow when he fell nearly five metres while fitting a roller shutter door at a farm in Lincoln.

He needed an operation on his heel and was unable to work for about three months after the incident on 2nd September 2011. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated and prosecuted his employer for failing to properly plan work at height.

The owner of racing stables in North Yorkshire has been prosecuted after a yard worker fell more than three metres through a skylight in a stable block.

Paul Cussons, who had worked at Thorndale Farm near Richmond for 26 years, was asked by trainer and bloodstock agent Alan Swinbank to cut down some overhanging trees above an ageing stable block before planned renovation work.

Mr Cussons had not been trained in either the use of a chainsaw or in how to work safely at height. He took a chainsaw onto the roof of the stable block but as he was sawing through the branches he slipped on some leaves and fell through a skylight, landing on the concrete floor below. He broke both shoulder blades, fractured a rib and punctured a lung.

The Health and Safety Executive investigated and two Prohibition Notices were served on Mr Swinbank preventing further work activity with the chainsaw and stopping work at height.

Mr Alan Swinbank pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £6,048 in costs.

The agricultural sector has the highest rate of fatalities of any other industry in Great Britain. The five year average rate of fatal injury is 0.7 per 100,000 for all workers. In agriculture, it is 9.6 per 100,000, much higher than any other industry. In 2010/11 there were 34 fatal injuries to workers.

Find out more about farm or rural accidents here.

Construction sites are being put under the spotlight as part of an intensive inspection initiative aimed at reducing death, injury and ill health.

During February and March, inspectors from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) will be visiting sites where refurbishment or repair works are being carried out. This is part of a national drive to improve standards in one of the Britain's most dangerous industries.

Their primary focus will be high-risk activity such as working at height and also 'good order' such as ensuring sites are clean and tidy with clear access routes.

The purpose of the initiative is to remind those working in construction that poor standards are unacceptable, and could result in enforcement action.

During 2010/11, 50 workers were killed while working in construction and 2298 major injuries were reported. Falls from height remains one of the most common causes of fatalities and major injuries in the construction sector in Great Britain, with more than five incidents recorded every day.

Philip White, HSE Chief Inspector of Construction, said:

"The refurbishment sector continues to be the most risky for construction workers, all too often straightforward practical precautions are not considered and workers are put at risk. In many cases simple changes to working practices can make all the difference.”