Work at Heights

Before You Start - Working at height Safety Checklist

ALL Staff, Volunteers and Masons working above 1.8m MUST complete the Working at Height Safety Training - email steve.w@allhandsandhearts.org to set up a session

While planning the work:

Have we attempted to avoid the use of safety harnesses through the planning of the work scope or the use of scaffolding or safety barriers?

Before EACH work session:

Is the anchor point engineered or improvised?
- Is it reliable and well maintained?
- Has it been tested to a weight of 1200kg or as close as possible?
Have we calculated the safe fall distance including the height of the worker and the potential extension of the safety lanyard?
Has the type of harness and type of lanyard selected been assessed as safe and appropriate for the scope by the PM?
Is the harness and lanyard rated to US/EU standards or has it been tested in house?
Have the lanyard and harness been inspected and the inspection recorded in the construction safety log?
Is there a rescue plan in place?
Is a safety monitoring system in place?

HARNESS AND LANYARD CARE

All harnesses and lanyards MUST have a user inspection performed before each use and an external inspection must take place every 6 months for harnesses and every 3 months for lanyards

The user inspection along with whether the harness is OK or details of why it was removed from service should be noted in the construction safety log

Harness and Lanyard Care

All harnesses and lanyards should be cleaned and rinsed with warm water as often as is practical to prevent degradation. If the water is too hot for your hands it is too hot for the harness

Store in a well-ventilated room.
If there is high humidity it may be prudent to install a dehumidifier in the storeroom as this ensures the harnesses do not stay damp.
Do not store the harness wet, if possible allow it to air dry completely (out of direct sunlight) before storing the harness.
Do not hang the harness by the metal D-ring as this causes weighted contact between moist webbing and metal. Consider storing by hanging on a wooden peg.
If using soap to clean the harness ensure it will not damage the harness by looking at what products the manufacturer recommends

Harness and Lanyard Disposal

Harnesses and Lanyards that have failed inspection should be disposed of immediately in standard base waste disposal. Harnesses and lanyards should be cut or otherwise made unusable before disposal in order to prevent use by any community members who may be unaware of the reasons for the disposal of the equipment

HARNESS INSPECTION CHECKLIST

What is working at height?

Any work to be performed at a height of 1.5 meters (5 foot) or above from the ground level where a person is standing is defined as work at height. Even a job being carried out below the ground level is classified as work at height. (Eg: Work in an excavated area is a work at height).

The major hazards to consider when working at heights are:

Falling
Being impaled following a fall
Dropping objects onto people below
Suspension trauma while under fall arrest

Safely working at height

When planning out a job that could involve working at heights, the strategy should be: Avoid, Prevent, Mitigate.

Often, we think of personal protective equipment (PPE) as the primary means to protect employees. Yes, PPE is an important and practical defense against workplace hazards, but OSHA considers PPE the last line of defense. Engineering and work practice controls—methods that are used to eliminate or reduce a hazard—must always be considered first when evaluating and mitigating hazards.

Avoid; working at height if possible: Rethink the Strategy—first line of defense

The first and best strategy is to control hazards at the source. If feasible, the work environment and the job itself should be designed to eliminate the hazards. Work should be done at a single level at grade rather than at multiple levels at elevations. To avoid unnecessary exposure to fall hazards build/assemble on the ground or use tool extensions that allow for the work to be done from the ground.

Prevent; should you have to work at height, prevent falls—second line of defense

Engineering Controls: If the hazard cannot be eliminated, then the hazard should be isolated/enclosed to prevent exposure in normal operations. These are measures that are taken to ensure that workers cannot fall off an unprotected edge. Examples include using guardrails or parapet walls to separate the worker from the fall hazards. Hole covers, handrails and other physical barriers are also means to prevent falls. These are referred to as passive fall restraints.

Work practices / administrative controls: Administrative controls influence the way a task is performed. Work practices include general workplace rules and other operation-specific rules, this should include adequate training to ensure workers are competent in working at height.

There are a number of ways to use administrative/work practice controls to protect workers from falls—for example adoption of safe work practices and providing appropriate training. Depending upon the work at hand, these safe work practices may include the use of warning lines, designated areas, controlled access zones, safety monitors and other similar systems to limit the number of workers exposed to the fall hazard.

Mitigate the Hazard; what happens when someone falls? PPE—last line of defense

When exposure to hazards cannot be engineered completely out, isolation and enclosure are not effective, and safe work practices and other forms of administrative controls cannot provide sufficient additional protection, a supplementary method of control is the use of PPE in the form of personal fall arrest systems. Personal fall arrest equipment minimizes the distance and consequences of a fall, should one occur. See the "Fall Protection" page linked below.

A rescue plan should also be created as part of mitigation. The rescue plan should created on a case by case basis, to ensure it is appropriate to your mitigation methodology. Rescue systems include how to get a casualty off of a high/underground area which has limited access and how to rescue a person who has been caught by their fall protection. The rescue plan should work alongside the work site emergency plan.

Fall Prevention

Fall prevention can come in many different forms depending on the situation.

Guardrails: A guardrail system can be used as a barrier installed to prevent workers from falling off a work surface edge to a lower level and can be used on many work surfaces, including rooftops, platforms, mezzanines, balconies, scaffolds, incomplete decked floors, catwalks, observation platforms, mobile work surfaces and ladderway points of access. Guardrails can also be used to keep workers from falling into holes or openings in decking or floors.

Effective guardrail systems should have:

Top rails that can withstand 200 pounds, between 39 and 45 inches from the working level.
Mid rails that can withstand 150 pounds.
Intermediate members (such as balusters) used between posts, that are not more than 19 inches apart.
Mesh, screen, or toe board to prevent materials from being kicked off the upper level
A surfaces smooth enough to prevent punctures, lacerations and snagging of clothing.

Workers installing or removing guardrails must be protected using other forms of fall protection whenever the guardrail systems are not attached securely to a stable structure.

Hole Covers: Hole covers can be more effective and efficient than guardrails for covering temporary holes necessary during construction. Holes that workers or objects can fall through or create a trip hazard need to be covered. Hole covers need to be strong enough to support at least twice the anticipated weight imposed by the heaviest load. They need to be secured in place, marked as a hole cover, and inspected periodically to identify deterioration. Plywood is a common choice, but may need reinforcement if the hole is large.

Warning Line Systems: A warning line system is a barrier erected on a flat or low-sloped roof to warn workers that they are approaching an unprotected roof side or edge. A warning line system includes a line (rope, wire, or chain) and supporting stanchions. Warning lines are not engineered to physically prevent or arrest falls and may not be used in all situations. Workers are not allowed in the area between the warning line and the unprotected edge without appropriate personal fall protection. Warning lines should be set sufficiently far from the edge to prevent any chance of falling when behind the warning line.

Dropped Objects

Any object dropped from height can cause serious injury or death if it falls on somebody below, even a bolt or hand tool dropped can be very serious
Wherever possible tools should be fastened by lanyard to ensure it doesn’t fall if dropped
We should avoid working at different levels on a scaffold or structure and we should barricade off the area under where people are working at height – this way if something does fall it is less likely to hit somebody as it falls.
Good housekeeping at height is essential – loose objects left at height can easily be kicked or knocked causing them to fall

The below chart illustrates how the drop height increases the impact force of a dropped object.

Select the Best Means of Working at Heights For Each Task (Scaffold vs Ladder)

Work at heights does not have any one-size-fits-all solutions. Care must be taken to figure out what is the best way to work at heights while protecting those working. Generally, ladders should only be used to access heights, not used as a working platform. Working platforms are provided by fixed scaffolding or mobile platforms.

Ladders may be used for low risk, short duration work. They have the benefit of being lightweight and easy to move. They are incredibly versatile, but they do have their limitations. Being lightweight has its drawbacks as well. For instance, it means that once you use a force strong enough to swing your weight, the ladder will swing with you causing a loss of stability. They can also be difficult to set up properly on uneven ground.

Scaffolding provides stability and space to work. This allows for multiple people to work simultaneously while providing each person enough space to work safely. It also allows for storing tools and materials close by, allowing you to stay where you are instead of going down and up constantly. Scaffolding can also be set up to work on large areas without going down and readjusting, as you would with a ladder. The main problem with scaffolds is the fact that they are more expensive and they can take a lot of time to construct and move. Individual materials can be light but when put together, they are difficult to move.

Mobile platforms provide stability and versatility. They can be difficult and expensive to maintain and need a competent person to set them up / move them. Mobile platforms can be motorized, or moved manually.

Other Considerations

Abnormal weather conditions: Work at height jobs must be suspended during harsh weather conditions like stormy winds, rains, and thunder & lightening.

Welding, cutting and grinding at height: It should be ensured that the sparks flying out from welding / cutting jobs are contained properly to avoid their damaging or setting fire to anything below.

General Do’s & Don’ts for working at height

Do’s…..

 Do a Risk Assessment.
 Plan Access, Working Platforms and Rescue plans.
 Do a visual inspection of work at height equipment before each use.
 Provide protection from falling objects.
 Make sure equipment used for work at height is well maintained and inspected regularly.
 Area barricading at the ground level while working at height.
 Carry tools, materials, and hardware securely at height.
 Make 3-point contact while ascending or descending a ladder.
 Only one person on a ladder at any one time.