Fall from grace – why safety at work is everyone’s concern

Published: Commercial Vehicle Workshop

With falls from height the most common cause of death or serious injury in the workplace, Peter Purdom, director of health and safety experts xCenta Solutions, this month focuses on how the commercial vehicle sector can work to best practice to mitigate risk from falls.

The Work at Height Regulations came into force in April 2007. They apply to all work where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause personal injury. The legislation introduced a simple hierarchy for managing and selecting equipment for work at height. Firstly, to avoid work at height where possible; secondly to use equipment and other measures to prevent falls and thirdly, provide other measures to minimise the consequences of a fall should one occur.

Working on commercial vehicles presents a larger ‘working at height’ risk than perhaps other areas in the motor repair sector due to the size of vehicles being worked on and employees are presented with risk from a number of different areas.

It’s the employer’s responsibility to provide the best equipment that gives a safe working environment. When working on curtain-sided trailers for example, best practice is to use a horizontal platform with guard rails so that staff can work safely the length of the vehicle. In addition, these protect against tools and materials being knocked off either the vehicle or the platform and injuring someone below.

Many workshops already provide railed steps for such work which, although acceptable, aren’t preferred by inspectors who believe that horizontal platforms are best practice. This is because they take away the opportunity or temptation for workers to lean or stretch in order to complete a job, rather than taking the time to down tools and move the ladder. It sounds so simple when written here in black and white, but in the heat of the moment, when there’s a backlog of jobs to be done, it’s easy to push the boundaries to get things completed quickly. In the commercial workshop, the result of such actions could be broken bones, serious internal injuries and even death.

When it comes to those working on the tops of tankers or car transporters, harnesses and lanyards may be the safest option. Enabling workers to move around the vehicle safely without health and safety “getting in the way”, harnesses eliminate the danger of falling from difficult and uneven surfaces and reduce the risk of injury.

What is crucial for employers (and employees) is that proper training is conducted so anyone – employees or contractors – working at height is fully briefed on how best to use the equipment. Even with harnesses on, if they’re not used properly horrific accidents can still occur and the employer will be liable if it transpires inadequate training has been given.

The legislation also applies to the vehicle inspection pit which over the years  has been the cause of numerous severe injuries, even deaths. It’s therefore imperative that when not in use that the pits are roped off or boarded when not in use and all edges are marked. Other commom hazards in the commercial workshop are falls from raised storage areas for example mezzanine floors and tops of offices, or during workshop maintenance such as cleaning and replacing light fittings.

All equipment provided for work at height must be suitable and properly inspected and maintained. Whilst stepladders and portable (leaning) ladders are not banned from workshops, employers must be able to justify whether they ar the most suitable access equiment compared to other options.

While health and safety is often just common sense, workplace pressure can mean that it falls down the priority list and that’s why employers should also provide regular refresher talks to keep health and safety at the forefront of workers minds. Around 90 per cent of employers believe that people are their most important asset and even when all precautions are taken there is still the potential for accidents through employee negligence. It should be stressed that health and safety is not all about red tape and jobsworths, but common sense and it’s the responsibility of both employer and employee to make sure that training is provided, adhered to and refreshed.

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