A man has been fined after the lack of guardrails on a construction site that was his responsibility left passing members of the public at risk. The Birmingham construction client failed to install adequate edge protection on a first-floor site, and with no guardrails, there was nothing to stop escaped objects from falling on to […]
For example, it’s fairly obvious that a property inland is likely to be much higher above sea level than one near the coast. But it might not always occur to contractors to install edge protection around excavations, such as when digging out a new basement. When you dig down one storey, it’s effectively the same […]
A trio of HSE incident reports since the start of April have highlighted the need for edge protection to protect passers-by, and safety ladders to provide safe access to elevated positions. In terms of safety ladders, two incidents involved workers falling from ladders; in the first, a Stockport man was installing an alarm system when […]
If you need to work at height, the correct aluminium ladders and aluminium walkways can create a platform that does not leave you at risk of overbalancing or falling. Aluminium walkways have lots of applications, from acting as walkovers on fragile roofs, to creating a level surface on pitched and other uneven roofs. Meanwhile, aluminium […]
A new Met Office forecasting service could help to determine the need for edge protection on construction sites, both during the building work itself, and as a permanent fixture on the finished structure. Launched earlier this month, the forecasts cover 3,600 individual locations, and give details across up to 16 weather parameters, with wind singled […]
A nine metre fall ended in fatality for one Lancashire builder, but man anchors and walkovers could have helped to prevent him from breaking through a fragile warehouse roof. In July 2012, the 39-year-old Fleetwood man was helping to clear debris that had been blocking the gutters on the roof of a toy distributor’s warehouse. […]
A roofing company has been fined £10,000 with nearly £5,000 costs for failing to install edge protection, safety ladders or walkovers on a site that ultimately led to a fatality. In June 2011, on the Earlstrees Industrial Estate in Corby, a 46-year-old worker fell through a fragile roof while replacing a rooflight, fracturing his skull […]
A man who fell six metres through a fragile skylight could have escaped injury if the site on which he was working had been properly protected with edge protection and walkovers. Przemyslaw Borkiewicz of Mutley, Plymouth, was working on a garage in Saltash on December 12th 2012 without adequate safety equipment. He had no man […]
The HSE continues to report on cases where a complete lack of edge protection was seen to be putting roofers at risk – and in the latest incident, the culprit had put his two sons in danger through a lack of such safety precautions. It relates to work carried out in Wednesfield in February 2013, […]
A Suffolk building company landed in court recently for failing to use proper man anchors and other fall protection while dismantling a roof some four metres from the ground on an Essex farm building. HSE investigators found incorrectly used man anchors and inertia reels, along with inadequately installed safety netting or a total absence of […]
Following the paralysis of a 69-year-old man who fell through a rooflight on a Scottish border farm, the HSE is stressing the value of precautions like man anchors and walkovers to prevent similar incidents. On March 14th 2013, Neil Knox was repairing a roof at a farm in Lauder when, during a tea break, he […]
With injuries and fatalities on the increase in the north-west, the HSE is using its 40th anniversary to urge vigilance on common risks such as falls from height. The start of 2015 also marks the beginning of the executive’s 40th year, but the occasion is marred slightly by worsening safety figures in the north-west. In […]
Holding a fire evacuation safety drill should be a positive step in terms of protecting employees – but not when setting up the simulated environment for the drill involves working 9m from the ground without guardrails, safe access or man anchors. A berth at Chatham Docks was the location in February 2014 for just such […]
Plenty of people joke about how their New Year’s Resolutions fall by the wayside by January 2nd, but a commitment to using safety barriers is one worth making – and worth sticking to, not just throughout 2015, but as a lifelong priority. Falls from height remain one of the main causes of workplace injuries and […]
Persistent failure to put edge protection in place when working at height has landed one West Midlands building firm in court with a four-figure fine. The firm – which works in the West Midlands but is actually registered to an address in Newcastle-upon-Tyne – was first served with a prohibition notice on June 13th after […]
An incident in which a heavy metal beam fell into a busy London street could have been prevented had adequate guard rails been in place to stop loose items from being able to drop off of the sides of the structure. The October 2011 incident saw a 32kg beam fall from six storeys high, first […]
Using edge protection to minimise fall risks and protect workers is both standard industry practice, and good common sense, according to a HSE inspector. Stephron Baker Holmes stressed the importance of adequate edge protection for construction firms, following a recent case in which a 43-year-old carpenter fell through an unprotected rooflight opening. He landed more […]
Farmers have been told that their ‘FATE’ is in their own hands – and roof rails are just one way to help safeguard against potentially tragic accidents. The HSE Don’t leave it to FATE campaign has been launched in response to a recent fatality in the farming industry, when 66-year-old Jim Sharp became entangled with […]
Safety barriers on elevated working positions are an important way to prevent people and objects falling from the edge and either sustaining an injury directly, or potentially inflicting one on people passing below. In either instance, the damage done to workers and passers-by can be severe, and the punishments are understandably severe too. Earlier this […]
A scaffolder not only failed to install adequate edge protection and safety ladders at his construction site; he also ignored a HSE inspector and continued to work unsafely in his direct view. The Essex labourer was working on a four-storey scaffold tower on the outside of a building in Chelsea, but some parts of the […]
New figures from the HSE show how construction sites without the right safety ladders, roof rails and other safeguards against falls from height are at risk of having their work halted completely. Following a month-long crackdown on construction sites, the HSE found 40% of nearly 1,750 sites it visited did not have adequate safety measures […]
A new code of conduct sets out when man anchors and safety barriers may be needed for green roof edge protection. The Green Roof Organisation Green Roof Code, or GRO Code 2014, looks at a range of safety and access issues with respect to different types of green roofs. For instance, it notes that on […]
Safety barriers could be the single best safety precaution to install in a workplace, in light of newly published figures by the HSE. The statistics show that in 2013-14, 28.2 million workdays were lost through injury or ill health, costing the economy an estimated £14.2 billion, and costing some people their lives. Over the course […]
A speech given on behalf of RoSPA has highlighted how workplace safety precautions like roof rails and edge protection have helped to substantially decrease the number of injuries suffered by people on the job. Dr Clifford Mann, president of the College of Emergency Medicine, delivered the RoSPA-hosted Allan St John Holt Memorial Lecture on October […]
A hard-hitting film by the Health & Safety Executive highlights the real-world impact of workplace accidents, and the importance of edge protection and guard rails, as well as precautions against other threats like asbestos and electricity. The video, entitled Turning Concern Into Action, marks the culmination of the HSE’s Safer Sites campaign, which has been […]