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WELCOME<br />
Save a life today!<br />
“Powered access is<br />
one of the safest<br />
ways of working at<br />
height and yet every<br />
year people die for<br />
want of wearing a<br />
harness on boom<br />
type platforms.”<br />
www.sed.co.uk<br />
WEAR A FULL BODY HARNESS<br />
WITH A SHORT LANYARD IN<br />
BOOM TYPE PLATFORMS<br />
For full information about the correct use of harnesses in platforms, please<br />
obtain technical guidance note H1 from <strong>IPAF</strong>. Tel: 015395 62444 www.ipaf.org<br />
Free with this magazine is a little sticker<br />
that could save a life. It says: “Wear a<br />
harness on boom type platforms.”<br />
This is a very simple message, but it’s<br />
one that we need your help to get across<br />
to the right people. Powered access is<br />
one of the safest ways of working at<br />
height and yet every year people die<br />
for want of this simple message. If you<br />
work with platforms or have them on<br />
your site, help us to make sure that this<br />
message gets to the right people.<br />
So who are those people? They are the<br />
operators of all boom type platforms.<br />
Some of them will have been using the<br />
equipment for years without a harness,<br />
and will tell you so.<br />
But those are exactly the kind of people<br />
we need to reach before it’s too late.<br />
Others will be new to the business and<br />
will be happy for you to tell them that it<br />
is standard safety practice to wear a full<br />
body harness with the lanyard set short<br />
in boom type platforms (for scissor<br />
lifts other rules apply, but it is not<br />
normally necessary to wear a harness).<br />
The industry’s policy on this was<br />
set by a joint team of the International<br />
Powered Access Federation and the<br />
Construction Plant-hire Association,<br />
working together with the Health &<br />
Safety Executive. Its advice is summarised<br />
on a simple, pocket-sized<br />
leaflet called <strong>IPAF</strong> H1. You can get<br />
free copies from us by calling 015395<br />
62444 or you can download it free from<br />
www.ipaf.org.<br />
So what should you do if you have<br />
platforms working on your site? First<br />
of all, be happy that you are using one<br />
of the safest and most effective ways of<br />
working at height – and one that the<br />
HSE has specifically endorsed during<br />
the introduction of the Work at Height<br />
Regulations (WAHRs), but secondly,<br />
make sure the equipment is being used<br />
safely by trained operators. Think about<br />
going on a short course to ensure you<br />
can fulfil your responsibilities under the<br />
WAHRs and read more about what the<br />
HSE expects of you on page 10 of this<br />
magazine.<br />
But on a very practical note, think<br />
about what you can do with that little<br />
sticker. Stick it next to the controls of a<br />
boom type machine – you really could<br />
save a life.<br />
Tim Whiteman<br />
Managing director<br />
International Powered Access Federation<br />
www.ipaf.org<br />
PS: Our thanks to the team at SED for<br />
printing the stickers and supporting this<br />
campaign. You can order extra stickers<br />
and download free copies of <strong>IPAF</strong>’s<br />
H1 leaflet on the use of harnesses at<br />
www.ipaf.org.<br />
4<br />
<strong>IPAF</strong> POWERED ACCESS REVIEW 2007
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