Staying Safe While Working At Heights
#1 Preventing falls from heights and dropped objects
Think about it
- Working at heights are generally categorised into two distinct brackets: falling from height and falling or dropped objects from height.
- The risks of falling at height range from severe injuries, all the way to fatalities.
- We’ve had 2 high potential incidents (HPIs) relating to fall from heights over the last twelve months, and 34 HPIs relating to falling or dropped objects in the same period.
- Critical controls are in place to protect our lives and if they are absent or deficient, dramatically increase the risk of a fatal incident.
- Working at heights is not restricted to our operations and is often performed in our office or home environments where serious or fatal injuries can result when a fall from heights occurs, such as when working on your roof. The same safety mindset and controls apply there too.
- Never enter the drop zone where work at heights activities are taking place as dropped or falling objects can cause serious or fatal injuries.
Talk about it
- What activities do you do at heights, and can they be done from the ground instead, following the hierarchy of controls method?
- What controls do you have in place to prevent tools or objects falling to a lower level?
Act on it
- As an individual and a team, make sure that you are fully aware of what can lead to incidents when working at heights and the controls that must be in place and used.