Height Safety

The death of a man because of a fall-related accidents in Sydney, Australia, reminds us all of the extreme dangers of working at height. This article updates our submission on the frequency and severity of accidents height safety. This paper also presents a three-step plan for managing risks in order to eliminate such incidents.

Fall hazards are the main cause of the construction industry for the death of traumatic injuries with 18 deaths occurred in 2003 in Australia and New Zealand. They are also workers of the construction industry second leading cause of non-fatal accidents. In Australia alone between 1997 and 2001, the construction industry has created nearly 1,600 workers compensation fall-related claims each year. This represents approximately 12% of all claims construction workers' .*

Under the Health and Safety Act 1989, employers, individuals under the control of a workplace and the self must take all possible steps to ensure that persons at or near the workplace are not exposed to health risks and safety. Preventing injuries from falls is also a requirement under the Act on scaffolding and lifts 1912.

What can you do to prevent these accidents safety at height It is a three step approach to risk management that can be implemented in a workplace. The first step is to identify hazards, the second is to assess the risk and the third step is to control risk.

Risk control may involve measures such as eliminating the danger, working on the ground as much as possible, replace with a safe surface such as the construction of platforms working temporary removal of the workers against the risk using guardrail as physical barriers and use of personal protective equipment as a helmet that minimizes the risk of head injuries and safety harnesses that are guaranteed in an anchor or a lifeline on the site.

If your workplace encourages contractors to undertake work, it is important to remember that there is a shared responsibility for health and safety, which requires cooperation and communication on risks associated with the work. You can not "contract" to your security responsibilities for the work or workplace that you control.

State WorkCover websites can provide information on rights and responsibilities of employers and employees. They have a wealth of information and provide all conditions legislative updates.

* The information from the commune HWSA compliance report of the project: prevention of falls in construction 2004 - Part available http://www.workcover.tas.gov.au/workcoverpublish/attach/inspfalls1.pdf and ACT Workcover IB0314 - Preventing Falls on sites located http://www.workcover.act.gov.au/pdfs/IB0314-Falls_Prevention.pdf