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 following considerations are absolutely critical for anyone who works at height:
As these unfortunate watermelons found out, even small items (such as nuts and bolts) can do a lot of damage when dropped from height!
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.
Height safety is serious business. According to the Health and Safety Executive, falls from height were responsible for more than 20% of fatal workplace injuries in the UK in 2013/14, as well as for over 15% of all major or specified injuries during that same period.
In spite of these statistics - the numerous deaths, the thousands upon thousands of injuries - far too many British businesses are still neglecting their responsibilities when it comes to working at height. Here are three sobering case studies from this month alone - all were reported on the HSE website within two weeks of time of writing:
Photograph from press.hse.gov.uk
Philip Evans (originally from Penarth, South Wales) died in hospital after a 4.5 metre fall, which he suffered whilst working on a store front in Exeter. Mr Evans had been making his way along a glass canopy when he fell through an unguarded gap, which had apparently been created during previous work when a pane of glass had been removed from the canopy and no replacement put in. His employer, London Fenestration Traded Ltd, has now been fined £200,000 with £17,790 costs, as has Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, the principal contractor for the job in question.
Turbo Property and Cleaning Services Ltd - a Sheffield-based company - were found guilty of breaching both the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 this week. Late last year, one of Turbo's employees was found working on "a fragile roof with no protection measures in place"; the company has been fined £2,000 for this violation.
When Andrew Bannister was told to repair a fragile roof on a farm in Leicestershire, he expressed some concern, but his employer sent him up without any fall protection equipment anyway. What happened next? A 10-metre fall, a painful landing on a concrete floor, and several serious injuries. Mr Bannister (48 years old at the time of the incident in question) was left with a broken neck, a broken back, and three broken ribs after falling through the roof of the barn; he is now permanently reliant upon a walking stick, and has stated, "I will be on pain killers for the rest of my life. The injury has changed my life completely." PK & IF Cobley Ltd were recently fined £75,000 (plus £29,351.88 costs) for failing to prevent the fall.
If these stories of death, injury, and punishment have made you realise that you could be doing more to protect your workers, head over to SafetyLiftinGear's Height Safety Equipment department - we supply a huge variety of safety harnesses, fall prevention systems, edge protection products, and everything else you need to prevent falls from height.
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:
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!
Remember how, back in April, we told you that SafetyLiftinGear is an official partner of The Bloodhound Project? Remember seeing the photos of our lifting equipment in action, helping to make this record-breaking supersonic car a reality? Yes?
Well, we're pleased to announce that a date has been set for Bloodhound's world debut. The car will be making its first public appearance at Newquay Aerohub on Tuesday 17 November, 2015. This event will consist of a 200mph trial - that may sound fast, but it's actually not even a quarter of the final target. Bear in mind that the Bloodhound team are aiming to eventually hit 1,000mph!
After the trial in Cornwall, Bloodhound will be fitted with air brakes and winglets before being sent to South Africa for high-speed testing (that's right - 200mph doesn't even count as 'high speed'!) in the summer of 2016. After that, it's full speed ahead - no pun intended - for a world land speed record attempt!
You can keep up with all the latest updates from Team Bloodhound at www.bloodhoundssc.com. Alternatively, why not visit our Lifting Equipment section to see some of the products that are being used to build this spectacular supercar?
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