May 2022

Safety at Height
HOW TO AVOID, SLIPS, TRIPS AND
INJURY WHEN WORKING AT HEIGHT
In order to avoid serious injury or falls when working at height, adequate training and
knowledge of height safety remain critical. Below, Gurjeev Bola, Product Manager at
Werner, answers the questions that installers and contractors need to know when it comes
to working at height.
Q: Falls from height still remain the
biggest cause of workplace accidents and
fatalities, what can installers do in the
fight against preventing falls from height?
A: What we need to remember is that these
accidents occur across the whole range of
working at height projects, from the simplest
repairs to large-scale construction jobs. More
than half of the fall-from-height deaths in the
construction industry are roof-work-related. With
this in mind, installers have to ensure that the
proper measures are in place to protect not only
workers themselves, but also members of the
public.
Before using any working at height equipment, a
risk assessment must be carried out, and this will
highlight any risks and ensure that the relevant
measures to mitigate these are in place. An
adequate risk assessment should include:
• Looking at the site for any potential hazards
associated with falling from height
• Deciding how certain hazards will affect the
user and surrounding people
• Considering the risks, are there measures in
place to deal with these risks?
• Record the findings and regularly review
them. If any changes occur, ensure you have
the precautions in place to deal with these
risks.
Q: What is the importance of planning
when working at height and what needs to
be done?
A: Planning is vital to ensure safety in any
working at height scenario, from short-duration
minor work to major projects. Employers and
those in control of any work at height activity
must make sure work is properly planned,
supervised and carried out by competent people.
This includes using the right type of equipment for
working at height.
As part of this planning process, you must
follow the hierarchy set out in the Work at Height
Regulations 2005 to make sure that risks are
controlled so far as is reasonably practicable.
This hierarchy of measures must be followed
systematically and only when one level is not
reasonably practicable may the next level down
be considered.
Continued on page 78
76 T I MAY 2022
PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST