The Work at Height Regulations makes it clear that ‘Work at Height’ involves any activity where the worker is elevated from the ground, and where a person falling a distance may result in injury.
This means Working at Height does not just mean carrying out activities on a roof, for example, carrying out maintenance tasks on factory plant can involve working at height. Any task such as this is covered by The Work at Height Regulations, amongst others, and the duty holder has a responsibility to ensure that it is carried out safely.
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) also sets out the requirement that work equipment and plant must be maintained so that it remains safe, and that any maintenance operations can be carried out safely.
Other regulations such as The Health and Safety at Work Act also apply in these situations. This states that the provision and maintenance of all plant and equipment should be carried out safely and without risks to health, so far as is reasonably practicable.
It is therefore the responsibility of factory managers, health and safety officers and any other duty holders to ensure that safe systems, such as guardrails, walkways and access platforms, are put in place to ensure the safety of workers when carrying out work at height maintenance activities on plant and equipment.
Within a modern factory environment there are numerous activities that may require maintenance teams to work at height. When we are designing and installing a work at height access system, we always ensure that it provides easy and safe access for machine maintenance.
We regularly install fully compliant safety systems on large machinery, silos, hoppers, conveyors and any other factory plant where people have to access it to carry out maintenance. Utilising these kinds of systems provides factory and plant owners and managers with greater flexibility when it comes to arranging maintenance. For instance, having in place guardrails and walkways means that the task can be carried out without having to commission the services of a specialist work at height company, or install access equipment such as scaffolding each time maintenance has to be carried out.
There are a number of benefits to having fall protection systems in place on factory plant and equipment. This includes that fact that it may mean more of your maintenance team have the skills to carry out the work, for example, because it can be done from the safety of an elevated walkway.
Another benefit of being able to carry out work at height safely is that it encourages regular maintenance, which will improve machine reliability. And fewer breakdowns will improve efficiency and productivity.
At Heightsafe systems, we can design and install work at height and Personal Protective Equipment for any factory plant and equipment. We are also able to carry out regular testing and inspection to Work at Height Regulations, PUWER and all other requirements.
If you would like more information, contact Heightsafe by calling 020 3819 7199 or alternatively, fill out an enquiry form here and a member of our team will be in touch.
