Work at Height: Falls Don’t Care

How many times have you seen it?

• A worker climbs a ladder when a tower would have been more suitable.
• A harness is worn but connected incorrectly.
• The right equipment is available on site but using it would take longer.
• A shortcut is taken because the task will “only take a minute”.

We know the conversations because we hear them after almost every serious fall.

But there is one thing that never changes.

Falls don’t care.

Falls don’t care how long the job will take.

Falls don’t care how busy the site is.

Falls don’t care how inconvenient it would have been to erect a tower.

Falls don’t care that you had a harness if it wasn’t being used correctly.

Falls don’t care that the lanyard was the wrong type.

Gravity is remarkably impartial.

Key takeaways:

• There is no such thing as a “quick job” when working at height. The right access equipment, controls and safe working methods should be in place every time.
• Work at height should be properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people, with suitable equipment and enough time provided to complete the task safely.
• Follow the hierarchy of control by avoiding work at height where possible, then prioritising collective protection measures before relying on personal protective equipment such as harnesses.
• Preventing falls is a shared responsibility. Managers, supervisors and workers all have a role in making sure unsafe arrangements are identified and challenged before work begins.

A Message For Those Carrying Out The Work

If you work at height, there is no such thing as a “quick job” once your feet leave the ground.

Every year, experienced workers are seriously injured carrying out tasks they have performed hundreds of times before.

Experience is valuable, but it is not a control measure.

Before starting work, ask yourself:

• Is this the correct access equipment?
• Is the equipment suitable for the task?
• Have I been shown how to use it correctly?
• Do I understand the limitations?
• If something goes wrong, what prevents me falling?

If you are relying on luck, experience or confidence, stop and reassess.

A Message For Those Planning The Work

However, work at height is not solely the responsibility of the person climbing the ladder, accessing the roof or operating the MEWP.

Many of the decisions that influence whether a fall occurs are made long before anyone leaves the ground.

The Work at Height Regulations require work to be properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out by competent people.

That means asking:

• Have we selected the right method?
• Have we provided the right equipment?
• Have we allowed sufficient time?
• Have we considered rescue arrangements?
• Have we provided adequate supervision?
• Or are we leaving workers to make critical safety decisions when they arrive on site?

Too many shortcomings in work at height arrangements stem from poor planning rather than poor intent.

Start With The Hierarchy

Good work at height management begins with the hierarchy of control.

The first question should always be:

Can we avoid working at height altogether?

If not, how can falls be prevented through collective protection measures such as:

• Fixed platforms.
• Scaffold systems.
• Properly erected tower scaffolds.
• Mobile elevating work platforms.

Only then should consideration move towards personal protective equipment and fall arrest systems.

Yet many organisations start at the bottom of the hierarchy.

The conversation immediately becomes:

“Have they got a harness?”

A more useful question might be:

“Why do they need a harness in the first place?”

The Real Test

Whenever I look at a work at height activity, I often ask two simple questions.

To the person performing the task:

“Can you safely explain how you intend to do this?”

To their supervisor or manager:

“Have you provided everything necessary for that task to be completed safely?”

If either person struggles to answer, the job probably isn’t ready to proceed.

Everyone Has A Role

The safest workplaces are not those where management writes procedures and workers blindly follow them.

They are workplaces where:

• Management properly plans the work.
• Suitable equipment is provided.
• Risks are understood.
• Workers are trained and competent.
• Unsafe arrangements are challenged before work starts.

Because whilst falls happen to individuals, the conditions that allow those falls to occur are often created by a combination of management decisions and workplace behaviours.

And that brings us back to the one thing every investigation eventually discovers:

Falls don’t care whose fault it was.

The consequence is often exactly the same.

The better question is whether enough was done beforehand to ensure the fall never had the opportunity to happen in the first place.

Preventing Falls Starts Before Anyone Leaves the Ground

Go back to the method statement and ask the contractor a simple question:

“Can you show me exactly how you intend to do this job safely?”

The best RAMS are not necessarily the thickest documents, the ones with the most photographs or the largest risk matrices. They are the ones that clearly explain how the work will be carried out safely and can be easily understood by the people expected to follow them. Risk assessments and method statements should be practical tools that help people work safely, not paperwork that simply satisfies an approval process.

Because in the end, effective RAMS are not about quantity.

They are about quality, clarity and ensuring that everybody involved understands how the work will be carried out safely.