A window manufacturer and installer has been fined £36,000 after their workers were seen installing a window without any safety precautions, 8 metres above a busy west end street.

Westminster’s magistrates court head that the company carried out window installation work, which put their workers and members of the public at risk of serious injuries or fatalities.

A member of the public provided photos of the workers leading out of a window 8 metres above the street, they also provided a video, filmed on their phone, of the workers accidentally dropping a part of the window which fell to the ground narrowly missing a pedestrian.

The health and safety executive investigation found that the company failed to provide basic safety equipment, including scaffolding – which would have prevented the workers and the window from falling. On top of not providing the essential safety equipment, health and safety executive also found that the workers had not received any formal training, and there was no supervisor present.

It was also found that no risk assessment had been conducted, and the company had failed to invest in the correct safety equipment needed for when people are working at height.

Andrew Verrall – Withers, an HSE Inspector said – “The Company’s standards were appalling, and this was particularly unacceptable as previous warnings had been blatantly disregarded.”

In this day and age, there is no excuse to not take the relevant safety precautions when you are carrying out dangerous work.

Working at height is extremely dangerous so it is incredibly important to adhere to the working at height regulations and take the correct safety precautions at all times. These laws are in place to help protect workers, and the general public. In this case, if the pedestrian was under the window at the wrong time, there could have been a fatal accident.

If you have been asked to work at height make sure you have all the correct equipment for the task ahead. Remember to inspect your equipment for damage before use. If you equipment is damaged in any way, do not carry out the work until you have sourced a replacement, or had it repaired.

Here at SafetyLiftinGear we have a whole department dedicated to height safety. Here you will find a variety of specialist safety harnesses, fall arrest blocks, lanyards, safety lines, rope access equipment, anchors and more.

If you are looking for a specific item but cannot locate it on our website, you can contact us by telephoning 0800 123 69 69 or emailing sales@safetyliftingear.com and a member of our team will be more than happy to assist you. 

Three companies have been fined a total of £90,000 after a work fell 6 meters off a platform that had no guardrails.

Southwark crown court heard that two workers were tasked with dismantling the top level of a unit at a construction site in London. When a worker slipped and fell over the side of the unguarded platform, hit a wall, then landed on the concrete floor. The worker sustained multiple injuries, including internal bleeding, fractures to his pelvis and right arm, and a collapsed lung. The injuries have left the worker unable to continue working.

 The three companies involved, Meta Management Services, Goss Graphic Systems, and Beck and Pollitzer Engineering Limited all pleaded guilty for a variety of offences.

When you are tasked with working at height, it is vital that you adhere to the working at height regulations 2005. These regulations state that before undergoing any work at height you need to ensure that the work is planned correctly, supervised and completed by competent people, and include using the right working at height equipment. For instance, safety harnesses, fall arrest blocks, anchors points and tool lanyards.

It is down to the employers to ensure that their workers are protected when they are working at height; this means that you need to ensure that collective protection equipment, such as guard rails, are implemented to protect everyone who is at risk, and that your workers are all wearing the appropriate personal protection equipment.

Before undergoing work at height, you must make sure that the weather conditions do not pose any risk of harm to your workers, make sure that it is dry and there is no wind. Ensure that the place where the work is to be undertaken is safe. That it’s not likely to collapse, and objects are not likely to fall from height.

At the first of February the laws regarding the health and safety sentencing changed. This means that companies that are found breaching the health and safety regulations can face serious sentences, and heftier fines when caught.

The introduction to of the new guidelines ensure that the courts rule all health and safety breaches in a standard way. Before the definitive guidelines were introduced, it was often left to the judges to decide the seriousness of the breach and then they came to a sentencing decision. This often led to larger companies not feeling an impact from breaching the health and safety regulations, and small companies put under too much financial strain, and ending up out of business.

The new sentencing guidelines now take into account culpability and harm factors on a scale of 1 – 4 (1 being the highest and 4 being the lowest), and the companies financial information. The sentencing is then broken down into 4 categories depending on the size of the company.

If you are running a large company with a turnover in excess of £50m a year you will incur larger fines (up to £10m) than a micro company.

Because of this change in sentencing, it is now, time to act and purchase the correct equipment to protect your workers while they are working at height.

We urge you all to start protecting your workers whilst they are at height and to purchase the correct equipment. At SafetyLiftinGear we have a whole department dedicated to height safety, containing equipment such as safety harnesses, lanyards, safety lines, anchor points, and more!

We would also like to remind you that on the 10th and 11th February we are attending the Executive Hire Show where we will have a stand dedicated to our height safety range. If you are attending the show, come and visit us at stand D80 and X32.

Yesterday, we told you all about our new Ergodyne tool lanyards; today, we'd like to show you a video that Ergodyne made to promote their products and encourage people to stay safe whilst working at height:

The video above is all about what Ergodyne call 'The Three Ts': Tethering, Topping, and Tagging. Don't worry if you haven't the time to watch the whole thing - here are The Three Ts in a nutshell:

The Three Ts of Height Safety

The following considerations are absolutely critical for anyone who works at height:

• Tethering. This means ensuring that your tools are securely tethered, either to your person or to a secure fixing that will not allow them to fall. This is what SafetyLiftinGear's tool lanyards are for.
  
  
• Topping. When working at height, do you carry tools, fittings, or other equipment in a work bag? If so, you need to make sure that the bag in question is properly topped; ask yourself what will stop your equipment from falling out if the bag is upturned or inverted, and if the answer is 'nothing', consider buying yourself a new, safer tool bag.

As these unfortunate watermelons found out, even small items (such as nuts and bolts) can do a lot of damage when dropped from height!

• Tagging. The third and final 'T' refers to the proper labelling of tool lanyards and other height safety products. Such items should always be clearly marked to identify the weight capacity of the product in question - exceeding the stated weight capacity can be very dangerous, and clear tagging/labelling ensures that workers will be able check the maximum capacity of their equipment at a glance.

Click here for more information about working at height, or visit SafetyLiftinGear's Height Safety section to find out how we can help you to stay safe at work.

Here at SafetyLiftinGear, we love versatile products with multiple uses, and one of the best examples from our own range is our four-panel safety barrier. With a high-visibility design and a lightweight folding frame that makes it easy to transport, this product is a superb all-purpose safety solution that can be used practically anywhere.

Here are some examples of situations in which our safety barrier might come in handy:

• Working underground? Use our safety barrier to cordon off the entrance and prevent others from falling in or dropping items down the hole.
  
  
• Working at height? The safety barrier can be used to prevent people from entering the area directly beneath you (where they may be at risk from falling objects).
  
  
• Working on a road? Our safety barrier is ideal for roadwork zones - its hi-viz design will ensure that everyone sees it right away!
  
  
• Cleaning up a spill hazard? Prevent the public from slips and falls by erecting a barrier between them and the spill while you clean it up.

Our safety barrier has the words "DANGER - NO ENTRY" printed on each panel, and multiple barriers can be connected to form a single, extra-long barrier if necessary. Click here to see more information and purchase your safety barrier now!