Work at Height rules set to change work methods

The impact of the Work at Height Regulations could cause fundamental changes in the plant industry, the Construction Plant-hire Association's (CPA) plant seminar was told.
Ian Greenwood, who heads the Health & Safety Executive's falls-from-height team, defined work at height as: "Work at any place from which a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal in-jury." Where possible, he said, such work should be avoided.
Delegates questioned him on a number of issues, such as climbing on an excavator superstructure during servicing, sitting and getting on or off a machine on a truck for loading/unloading operations.
Greenwood suggested that efforts could be made to
allow large plant to be serviced from ground level and said
that, where this is not possible, group protection (such as handrails) and individual protection (safety harnesses) should be used.
Where work at height cannot be avoided, he said employers must provide enough training to give the individual sufficient information so work can be carried out safely.