The Work at Height Regulations 2005
By Jane Booker
Due to increasing concern about this, further regulations came into force on the 6th April this year. The regulations apply to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall which is liable to cause personal injury.
It consolidates UK and European legislation on work at heights.
The types of situations the regulations cover are far reaching as they cover any work including places at or below ground level. If there is a risk that “without measures being taken a person might fall a distance liable to cause injury”, the regulations apply.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has provided a guide which outlines what people must do to in order to comply with the regulations.
Today’s article is intended to be only a brief guide to the new legislation and to alert you all to the things to look out for in your own workplace. The regulations have been bought in to ensure a safer working environment so if you have any concerns about what you are being asked to do or where you are being asked to work by your employers, seek the assistance of your union representative.
Who is covered?
The regulations not only cover the traditional employer but also the self-employed worker and any person under his/her control and anyone who controls the work of others, depending on the extent of their control e.g. building owners who may contract others to work at height.
Types of work covered
Types of work covered under the regulations include construction work, clearing gutters and pipes, painting walls, ceilings, changing light bulbs, working from a ladder, working on roofs or high buildings, to mention just a few examples.
What is a “height?”
A place is at “height” if a person can be injured falling from it, even if it is at or below ground level.
“Work” includes moving around at work, but does not cover travel to or from a place at work.
The regulations do not cover the situation of someone working at a level and then slipping and falling. The fall must be from one level to another.
Employers’ Duties
There are various duties under the regulations that employers must comply with.
Their core duty is to ensure that no work should be carried out at height where it is reasonably practicable to carry out the work safely otherwise than at height.
Otherwise they must:
1. Do all that is reasonably practicable to prevent a person from falling.
2. Postpone work if weather conditions are likely to endanger the health and safety of others. For example, maintenance on a roof / building in icy or rainy conditions should be postponed.
3. Ensure that work at height is properly planned, organised and supervised.
4. Ensure that risks are assessed; existing risk assessments need to take in to account work at height. For example, risks from fragile surfaces such as roof lights must be controlled.
5. Ensure that staff are trained and competent when working at height.
6. Ensure that the place where work is done at height must be safe and should have features which would prevent a fall.
6. Ensure that work equipment at height is properly inspected and maintained and properly selected as being suitable for use at height.
7. Ensure that suitable and sufficient steps are taken to prevent injury to a person by any material or object falling onto them.
8. Ensure that “danger areas” are clearly marked.
9. Ensure that work is not carried out near or on fragile surfaces. If it is not reasonably practicable to avoid this, steps have to be taken for extra safeguards.
Selecting work Equipment for use at height
When selecting equipment, an employer now has to give collective protection measures priority over personal protection measures. They also need to take into account a variety of matters including the working conditions and risks to the safety of people working where the equipment will be used, distance and consequence of a fall and the durations and frequency of use, to name but a few.
Each individual place which is to be used for working at height must be checked on every occasion before it is used.
Records of inspection must be kept.
Risk of FALLS AT 2 METRES OR MORE
Where falls are 2m or more, HSE inspectors EXPECT action to prevent falls. Guard rails and work platforms should be used to protect from falls.
Employee’s duties
There is a duty on all employees to report to their employers, or person whose control they are working under, any activity or defect connected with the working at height that puts at risk their own or other people’s safety.
There is also a duty to ensure that all employees use work equipment and safety devices in accordance with any training or instructions given.
As with all new legislation, only time will tell how the court interprets these regulations in full but they are there to safeguard the safety of the entire workforce.
