Working at Height & Fall Arrest Training

by Autec

We offer a range of Working at Height courses for operatives, supervisors, and managers. The Work at Height Regulations apply to all who work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause personal injury. The regulations place duties on employers, the self-employed, and any person that controls the work of others (for example facilities managers or building owners who may contract others to work at height).

The Need for Training

Falls from height remain the single biggest cause of workplace fatalities and one of the main causes of major injury. During 2013/14 there were 42 fatalities and 11294 suffered a serious injury as a result of a fall from height. Ladders remain the most common agent involved and account for more than a third of all reported falls from height incidents.

Work at Height

Working at height is any place a person could be injured due to a fall, regardless of how high .‘Work’ includes moving around at a place of work (except by a staircase in a permanent workplace) but not travel to or from a place of work. For instance, a sales assistant on a stepladder would be working at height, but the HSE would not be inclined to apply the Regulations to a mounted police officer on patrol.

Risk of Prosecution

Employers are being warned to take correct precautions when their staff work at height. The HSE regularly prosecute individuals and organisations for breaches of the regulations, particularly when these breaches result in death or serious injury to employees.

Staff Training

Under Regulations 5 and 6(5)(b), you must ensure that everyone involved in the work is competent (or, if being trained, is supervised by a competent person). This includes involvement in organisation, planning, supervision, and the supply and maintenance of equipment. Where other precautions do not entirely eliminate the risk of a fall occurring, you must (as far as it is reasonably practicable to do so) train those who will be working at height how to avoid falling, and how to avoid or minimise injury to themselves should they fall. There were 567,000 lost working days during 2013/14, due to falls in the work place.