Safely working at height is critical to keep your employees from falling to the ground, the level below or into holes such as trenches and service pits. Ideally, we should complete work at ground level, but in many instances, that is not possible.
Because so much of the work we do requires employees to work at height, organisations must put in safety measures and train in safe practices.
In this article, we take a look at what safely working at height means and the measures you can take. We provide the latest Australian fall from height fatality statistics, unpick the Model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of falls at workplaces and discuss some research that uses a VR experiment to test the reactions of people who are at risk of falling from a height.
Fall From Height Fatality Statistics
Falls from height can lead to serious injuries that often result in fatalities. Sadly, there has been no improvement in the number of fall from height fatalities in Australia in the past eight years. The statistics reveal that
- Every year, an average of 29 people die from work-related falls.
- Falling from a height is the cause of 11% of all work-related deaths.
- Half of the fatal falls involve distances of three metres or less (31% from a height of two metres or less, and a further 19% involve falls from between two and three metres).
- The industries with the highest numbers of serious falls-related claims are Construction (20%), Manufacturing (12%) and Transport & Storage (11%).
- Falls from ladders are the primary cause of work-related fatalities from heights (16%) followed by falls from trucks and semitrailers (11%).
- Falls-related fatality rates increase with age, 65% of fall from height fatalities occur with workers aged 45 years and over.
Where Possible Eliminate the Risk at the Design Stage
At the start of any project, the design of plant and structures can significantly impact the risks of a fall. Working on the roof, for example, creates significant risk, but there are things that you can do to provide work areas to safely work at height. Safe building design includes using non-fragile roof materials, locating plant items such as air-conditioners on the ground, or away from roof edges, using permanent safety mesh, considering the location of anchor points and mounting roof vents at low level.
Access to areas at height should have safe entry to, and exit from, and edge protection, for example, permanent guardrails. Safe entry and exit not only applies to buildings and structures, you should ensure that you consider scaffolds, elevated work platforms and mobile plant that also require handrails, guardrails and barriers, toeboards, stairways and ladders. All of these protections help to support safely working at height.
See our article, 8 Working At Height Safety Myths.
Work on the Ground or a Solid Construction
Where practical, eliminating the risk of a fall by working on the ground is the best solution. However, where that is not possible, establishing a solid construction that has barriers installed to prevent a person falling over edges and into holes supports safely working at height. You must construct a barrier that can withstand the force of someone falling against it.
Barriers should consist of guardrails, solid balustrades or other structural components, for example, wire mesh supported by posts and provided with a reinforced top edge. The top of the guardrail or component should be between 900 mm and 1100 mm above the working surface. If you use a guardrail system, it should also have mid-rails and toe-boards or wire mesh infill panels.
Holes, penetrations and openings must be made safe immediately after being formed, for example with covers, barricading or by embedded mesh. The cover should also include signage indicating its purpose as a cover, for example, ‘DANGER HOLE BENEATH’.
How to Make Temporary Platforms Safe to Use
Temporary work platforms include scaffolds, elevating work platforms (EWP’s), mast climbers, workboxes, building maintenance units, portable or mobile fabricated platforms or any other platform that provide a working area designed to prevent a fall.
Scaffolds
A person with management or control of a scaffold must not allow the use of a scaffold from which a person or object could fall more than 4 metres. Scaffolding work platforms are generally rated as light, medium or heavy-duty with specified weight and usage. Scaffolds must be strong enough to support the weight of your employees and the materials and tools that they are using. There are several different types of scaffolds, including fixed, frame, temporary and mobile. To safely work at height using a scaffold, they all require a level, flat, compacted surface, free of open floor edges and penetrations and installed well clear of powerlines.
EWP’s
Elevated work platforms (EWP’s) and scissor lifts are commonly in use to make safely working at height a controlled process. The main hazards related to the use of EWPs are unplanned contact with electric lines, overturning the machine, falling from the work platform, and potential crushing risks when elevating the platform or moving laterally. While working inside the EWP, your employees should be wearing a fall arrest harness. The fall arrest harness lanyard should be as short as possible and attached directly to the designated anchor point on the EWP, and not to the handrail.
Workboxes and Other Platforms
Mast climbing work platforms are hoists with a working platform that is used to raise workers and materials to a temporary working position. Workboxes and work platforms consist of a platform surrounded by edge protection, designed to provide an elevated work area for people working from the box. Workboxes are designed to be supported from above by a crane, hoist, or other mechanical devices, whereas work platforms are designed to be supported from underneath or the side by forklifts or other mechanical devices.
All workboxes must be securely attached and not suspended over people. Safely working at height while in the workbox, requires your employees to be attached to the anchorage by a lanyard and harness unless the workbox is fully enclosed.
See our article, What Can We Do To Prevent Fall From Height Risks?
Why We Need Guardrails, Toeboards and Safety Mesh
Where there is a possibility of a fall from height from 2 metres or over, guardrails help to protect to keep your employee’s safety while working at height. Guardrails include handrails set at 900-1100mm and mid-rails. Installing toeboards and safety mesh prevents tools and materials from falling to the level below. These materials can act as projectiles if they come into contact with people and structures below.
Safety mesh does not prevent falls from the edge of a roof or through holes in a roof. You should always use safety mesh in conjunction with other types of fall prevention devices such as edge protection (e.g. guardrails), or other control measures such as fall arrest systems.
You should use guardrails to provide effective fall prevention:
− at the edges of roofs
− at the edges of mezzanine floors, walkways, stairways, ramps and landings
− on top of plant and structures where you require access
− around openings in floor and roof structures, and
− at the edges of shafts, pits and other excavations.
Safely working at heights also means preventing falls into excavations and trenches. You should either install guard railing, including guardrails fitted to the top edges of trench shields, or a barrier approximately 1.5 metres back from the excavation, to prevent people from approaching the trench.
How to Safely Use a Ladder
Choosing to use a ladder to work at height should be your last choice after ruling out all other options. Too often, are the first consideration and using ladders results in a significant number of serious and fatal fall injuries.
Safely working at height using a ladder starts with selecting one that suits the work you wish to carry out. Inspect the ladder before use for any defects and if damaged, do not use. Note the load rating, which should be at least 120kg.
When setting up a ladder, you should check that
- it is the correct height for the work to avoid over-reaching or stretching
- the locking devices are secure,
- it is not placed so that the rungs support the weight of the ladder and any person using the ladder,
- you have set it up on a solid and stable surface to prevent the ladder from slipping,
- you place extension ladders at a slope of 4:1 (that means the distance between the ladder base and the supporting structure should be about 1 metre for every 4 metres of working ladder
height), and - it is secured at the top and bottom.
Maintain 3 Points of Contact
Safely working from height when using a ladder means always maintaining ‘three points of contact’. When you’re going up or down a ladder, you should always have two feet and one hand, or one foot and two hands, on the ladder. When you’re working from a ladder, you should have two feet and one other point of contact with the ladder, such as your hand or thighs leaning against the ladder.
You should use a tool belt or side pouch so that you don’t need to carry materials or tools while climbing the ladder. Remember to only perform light-duty work while on the ladder, where tools can be operated safely with one hand. Always make sure that no-one works underneath the ladder or is on it at the same time as you are. You should never straddle a ladder, and you should always wear slip-resistant footwear.
Fall Risk Behaviour Research Findings
A 2019 research experiment investigates how construction workers react when they think that they may fall and the best way to train about fall from height risks. The study uses a VR system with a motion-tracking feature to monitor employees as they walk between two high buildings on a suspended plank of wood. One group of workers was shown an avatar demonstrating safe walking behaviours, and another was shown an avatar walking quickly and falling. The workers then had to walk the plank.
The results are very interesting in that the group, which was shown a positive walking example before they walked had a stable and slow walk, and most of them followed the norms shown by the avatar. The group who observed a negative falling scenario tended to walk in a more unstable and faster way, and most of them presented irregular walking trends. Their fear of falling and the consequences, as shown in the negative scenario triggered unsafe behaviours. The negatively reinforced learning method did not produce a safer response. Training that uses shock and negative and alarming imagery fails to reinforce safe behaviour.
Training to Safely Work at Height
This study and other research show the importance of training safe practices from a positive perspective. Your employees need to recognise height and fall risks but also need to be shown how to keep themselves and others safe while performing high-risk tasks such as working at height. Tap into Safety understands the need to reinforce positive behaviours, and you will find on our interactive safety training platform several courses that teach safely working at height practices. Our out-of-the-box courses include:
- Commercial Construction at Height
- Residential Construction at Height
- Scaffold Erection
- Scaffolding on the Top Floor
- Excavations
- Ground Works for Commercial Construction
If we don’t have what you need, we also build custom training content. If you’d like to know more, please contact us or click through to try a free online demo.
To Conclude
This article discusses what safely working at height means in terms of falls from height and to depth and the measures you can take to promote safe practices. Falls from height often result in serious injuries that lead to fatalities. The research demonstrates that training in safe height practices needs to be done using positive examples and not rely on shock methods and serious fall consequences because negative scenarios lead to poor choices.
Designing out the need to work from height and perform activities on the ground where possible is the first step in safely working at height because that removes the risk. However, when work at height must occur, then temporary platforms such as scaffolds, EWP’s, workboxes and other working platforms provide a higher level of protection than ladders. You must place this equipment must be on a firm and secure footing, and your employees should also wear fall arrest PPE.
Too often, we use ladders to work at height when temporary platforms are a safer alternative. When using ladders, they must be suitable for the work that you wish to perform, securely footed and stable, and you must maintain three points of contact at all times.
Training employees to think carefully about their equipment selections and how they work at height should be a priority for organisations because there has been no improvement in the number of fall from height fatalities in Australia in the past eight years.
This article is also available as a podcast on the Tap into Safety Podcast.