If you are operating in the skip hire sector, take a look at your working-at-height safety provisions to determine whether precautions like safety ladders and man anchors may be required.
Skips are often stacked when not in use – and it may not immediately appear easy to take precautions when scaling these stacks, as they are temporary constructions.
However, man anchors can provide an important tether to prevent falls, while safety ladders on structures adjacent to the stack can allow them to be scaled to the necessary height without clambering directly up the skips themselves.
Neil Fry, an inspector with the Health & Safety Executive, recently commented on safety failings at a London skip company, whose employees were witnessed climbing skip stacks without any safety gear.
“Standards for controlling risks arising from working at height … can be pretty poor in the skip hire sector,” Mr Fry said.
“The onus is on dutyholders to take proactive steps to protect and safeguard their workforce and others before an incident occurs.”
As with any altitude work, simple precautions like safety ladders and man anchors – along with guardrails on any elevated edges – can help to reduce the risk of a fall, improving safety for the long term.