Standing an amazing 1,016 feet high, The Shard is not only the tallest building in London; it is also the tallest completed structure in Europe. As well as helping to reinforce London’s status as Europe’s undisputed commercial capital, this impressive building is representative of the UK’s business ambitions in general.
Ambition
Indeed, the sky is the limit for many British-based business organisations these days and as such, many more of them are clambering over themselves to build modern office buildings which reflect their corporate ambitions. The result of this is that the skills of professional construction workers are now as in demand as they have been at any other time in recent years.
Obviously, working at height in this way is not a risk-free enterprise. Indeed, all it takes is one false move and a worker could easily plummet in an instant. Therefore, it is absolutely vital that aerial workers are provided with height safety equipment of the highest quality, as this will help to ensure they are able to carry out their tasks in a suitably safe and effective way.
Equipment
In essence, there are two main types of fall arrest equipment that aerial workers use to operate safely at height: general equipment and personal apparatus. General equipment includes items such as nets, whilst personal equipment is made up of items like lifelines, harnesses, and lanyards. In the event of a fall, a full body harness and its connecting devices harness will arrest the rapid descent and safely distribute the impact throughout the body and keep the fallen worker in an upright position. The benefits of personal arrest systems are clearly apparent and therefore they should be made available to all professionals who are required to carry out building construction tasks such as roofing, painting, carpentry, riveting, and cleaning.
Naturally, aerial workers need their personal arrest apparatus to deliver optimal performance every single time they use it; therefore, it is essential that all equipment pieces are kept in good working order. To ensure this, workers should be encouraged to get into the habit of thoroughly inspecting each and every piece of equipment for the presence of mildew, wear, damage, and other imperfections, before they even think about carrying out their tasks.
Working at height training
Of course, it goes without saying that height-related safety is not just about having the right equipment – it is also about being adequately prepared for the unexpected. Relevant training can be of great benefit in this respect as it will afford aerial workers with the skills and knowledge they need to help them deal with any unexpected issues that may arise on the job.
Quite simply, the safety of aerial workers must always be the primary concern of any ambitious project. Indeed, if contractors and companies don’t ensure these fearless professionals have the best equipment and the right training then they may find their ambitious plans scuppered before they even get off the ground!