We hear all too often that farm operatives have fallen from height, either through a fragile roof or sky light, or they have taken a fall from a ladder. On some occasions, we hear that operatives have fallen from potato boxes or the telehandler bucket. Thankfully these stories are becoming less frequent, but these types of quick fixes are still happening, and only come to light when someone has received a serious injury or has died as a result.
Injuries sustained through working at height (often falls from height), cause the highest number of serious injuries and fatalities in UK workplaces. Most injuries from falls are low level, ranging from ground level to 4 or 5 metres, due to not taking the risk seriously. We are actually more likely to fall and injure ourselves at low levels because we assume “it’s not that high, so should I fall, I will not hurt myself”.
Operatives working at 200 metres on a high-rise building are going to take all the necessary precautions to prevent them falling, because they know a fall from that height will be fatal, however falling from 5 metres or below can still be fatal.
What is working at height?
The ‘Working at Height regulations 2005’ states that:
“Working at height means, work in any place where, if there is no precautions in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury.” (HSE)
These precautions should be in place at all workplaces where applicable:
- Avoid work at height where it is reasonably practicable to do so.
- Use an existing place of work that is already safe or the right equipment.
- Where working at height cannot be avoided, then we must ensure that we minimise the distance and consequences of a fall, by using the right type of equipment where the risk cannot be eliminated.
- Provide training, supervision & instruction.
- Provide personal protective equipment e.g. fall arrest
Employers have a legal and moral duty to provide a safe place of work. As we are all aware the nature of the business will sometimes require employees or contractors to access heights for repairs, maintenance, or even some general duties. Employers, managers and supervisors must enforce the controls in relation to working at height, to safeguard their employees, and that the business complies with Health and Safety regulations.
Before working at height can commence there are a number of key points managers must consider:
All working at height must be properly planned
Can working at height be prevented? Those planning the work at height must consider the length of time the work at height has to be carried out for, and consider if that time can be reduced. For example, can the equipment be brought down to ground level and be repaired there? If this is not practical, then the correct access equipment must be sourced to provide a safe work platform, such as a mobile scaffold tower, mobile elevating work platform, or man basket. Remember that most tasks will require the operative to use both hands, therefore ladders would not be classed as adequate access equipment.
Where access equipment is provided, managers, supervisors, and other users are required to ensure equipment is suitable, stable and strong enough for the job, maintained and checked regularly. This includes mobile scaffold towers, ladders, Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWP’s) and man baskets. Safety equipment such as safety harnesses and lanyards are also subject to recorded inspections. Although access equipment is not used that regularly in the farming industry, pre-use inspections must be carried out prior to use to ensure that it remains safe to use. There is very little point following the working at height regulations, only to have a failure in the access equipment that leads to an injury or worse. All inspections must be recorded and filed in your Health and Safety folder.
Inspection documents can be found in your CXCS Health and Safety folder. Any additional inspection checklists required, can be provided on request.
Minimise the distance and consequences of a fall
Where working at height cannot be avoided and falls from height cannot be prevented by a safe work area, e.g. scaffolding, then we are required to minimise the distance and the consequences of any falls. This is controlled by the use of full arrest equipment. Full arrest equipment is a full body harness and a safety lanyard. These are worn by the operative and attached to a suitable fixing point so that should the operative fall, they will only fall the distance of the lanyard, therefore minimising the consequence of the fall as any injury will be less than if the operative fell the full distance and hit the ground.
Some access equipment requires additional safety equipment such as a full arrest kit. Man baskets and cherry pickers require the operative to wear a full arrest harness and lanyard. This safety equipment is provided and worn to prevent the operative(s) being ejected from the work platform. Due to the design of the cherry picker and man baskets both being attached to a boom they are both prone to bounce uncontrollably when mobile. Both the man cage and cherry picker are fitted with anchor points and only these should be used for attaching the lanyard. The safety harness also helps with preventing the operative leaving the access equipment or leaning out of the platform.
Can workers access and egress the work area safely?
One of the main issues with working at height is accessing the work area safely.
It is counterproductive to put controls, equipment, and PPE in place if the workers are at risk while accessing and egressing their work area. Training will provide the necessary knowledge on how to access work areas safely, through ladder training or where safety harnesses are used, and the “hook on, hook off” method, working on the principle of 3 points of contact at all times.
As part of the planning, company management must assess the best way to achieve safe access and instruct the workforce of this method.
Managers and operatives must be aware that some access equipment may not be safe to use. Any scaffolding that has been erected by contractors can only be accessed and used when the contractor has provided the necessary safety certificate or fixed a SCAFFTAG to the scaffolding. Otherwise, you could be using an unsafe or incomplete scaffold.
Training, supervision & instruction
The working at height regulations state “Only personnel who have received training in working at height are permitted to work at height”. Unless you work in the construction industry, there is very little chance that you or your employees have had any working at height training. If you intend to carry out any large projects which entail working at height, then CXCS would recommend that working at height training is carried out prior to the works commencing.
Employers must ensure that ALL employees and temporary staff have received adequate training & instruction on the safe use of equipment and PPE before they commence working at height. When carrying out smaller tasks such as cleaning guttering or minor repairs, refer to your CXCS Health and Safety folder for information from your risk assessments and the information notes relating to working at height. This will not replace working at height training but will assist you in being aware of the controls you will require to carry out the task. Operatives and managers must have the knowledge and skills for working at height and be able to identify hazards in real time to ensure that workers do not overload or overreach when working at height, and that appropriate precautions are taken when working on or near fragile surfaces, such as ensuring protection from falling objects is in place.
Anyone working from height or planning to, must also be aware that operatives are not permitted to work alone when working from height. Ladders must always be footed or fixed when being used to work from or when used as a means of access.
Should an employee become unwell or injured while working at height, an emergency evacuation and rescue procedure must be in place.
CXCS can provide toolbox talks on ladder use and working at height, that would go towards your employees competency.
Remember, when work at height is being carried out, the employer has a duty to maintain supervision.
Contractors working at height
Those responsible for premises, who appoint a contractor to work on their property, have a legal requirement to ensure that all contractors’ Health and Safety provisions have been assessed before they are permitted to start work. Managers must ensure that all contractors who are required to work at height must have the relevant risk assessments, proof of training, adequate access equipment and correct PPE in place before they can work at height. A working at height “permit to work” must be issued by the farm manager to the contractor. A “permit to work” is a method of controlling works and ensures that the contractor complies to the working at height regulations. Working at height “permits to work” can be found in your CXCS Health and Safety folder.
Disciplinary action for safety related failings
Due to the nature of the injuries that can be sustained through falling from height, management must enforce the working at height procedures and policy, to ensure that all employees can carry out their duties in a safe manner, and free from injury. Therefore, managers and supervisors are required to stop any employee or contractor who is working at height without the required safety equipment, or who the management consider are working at height in an unsafe manner or in contradiction of the training they have received.
In some cases, the management will be required to serve an employee a non-conformance which outlines the breach of Health and Safety, and the actions taken to prevent such a reoccurrence, such as additional training.
Strict controls on working at height will help prevent an accident, therefore safeguarding the employees and the business.
Other hazards associated with working at height
When working from height, other hazards must be considered in addition to falls. These hazards are sometimes over–looked or not noticed until it is too late, such as tools and equipment falling from height. Access equipment must have safety guards in place such as kick or toe boards to prevent tools being knocked off. Where materials are expected to be stored on scaffolding, then scaffolding must have brick guards attached to prevent bricks and other materials falling from height. In addition, control measures must be in place to prevent workers on the ground or the general public being struck by falling materials. All working at height work areas should be fenced off to prevent access below the work area.
As mentioned, working at height in the farming industry is rare, but it is does happen and is normally carried out by the farmer or their employees. Most working at height tasks are a “5-minute job” such as unblocking gutters, however these tasks can be very dangerous if no safety precautions are taken. Putting it into perspective, it only takes on average 5 minutes to clean a lion’s cage, but would you enter a lion’s cage if there were no safety precautions in place? The consequences could be the same if short cuts are taken when working at height; it could result in serious injury or death.
