Use Cherry Pickers, Mobile Scaffolds and Ladders to Prevent Falls from Heights, HSE Says
On 6th October 2007, John Weatherburn, of Berwick was about to carry out maintenance work on a roller shutter door, when he fell down from the fork of a forklift truck and suffered serious injuries.
One and a half years later, his employer, Simpsons Malt Limited, of Tweed Valley Maltings, Tweedside Trading Estate, Berwick the manufacturer of various malts, has been asked to pay £10,000 as fine and £5,883.75 as costs with an additional £15 as victim surcharge.
Following the incident, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is again urging employers and workers to understand and follow the various safety guidelines for working at heights. Workplace Law is a major provider of accredited health and safety training; click on NEBOSH General, a course in the management of health and safety could help you cut the risks that apply in your workplace.
Principal Inspector of HSE, Richard Bulmer emphasized the use of mobile scaffolds, cherry pickers (mobile elevated work platforms) and ladders as a part of a safe working environment. He also demanded that forklift trucks should have a safety enclosure if they have to be used for working at heights and said that the safety measures implemented by the employer must be commensurate with the risk involved in a particular task.
He also observed that many workers in the past have been killed or harmed while using a simple pallet on a standard forklift truck for maintenance work. According to him, falling from heights is the most common accident in workplaces and special attention should be given to this risk.
