Category: Health & Safety

02 Dec 2015

The Importance of Height Safety Measures and Risk Assessments

mike Health & Safety

Recently, two more news stories have come to our attention which highlight the importance of implementing proper health and safety procedures, particularly when working at height.

The first of these concerns Wayne Morgan, a scaffolder from Castleford who has been prosecuted following the death of one of his workers. It was revealed in court that the accident occurred due to an incorrect use of scaffolding edge protection, which left a gap for the individual to fall through and fatally injure himself. The employer was subsequently sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work, and was ordered to pay £15,000 in costs, having breached Regulation 8(a) of the Work at Height Regulations.

A demolition company in Glasgow has also experienced similar circumstances in recent times, after a 50-year-old worker fell when carrying out work from a mobile scaffolding platform. A cable tray swung and hit the worker, causing him to fall five feet from the platform he was working on, and fracture both his right elbow and left arm. The platform had not been put together properly and was missing several essential items, made worse by the fact that no proper risk assessment or inspection had been performed before use. The company in question, DSR Demolition, were subsequently fined £5,000 for breeching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations.

Accidents at work are terrible for both the companies concerned as well as their employees, often causing lasting and unrepairable damage to the lives of those involved. Employers who are found guilty of workplace negligence not only have to deal with the legal implications of their actions, but also with the guilt that comes with bearing responsibility for causing the accidents. They also have to accept that their company may suffer long-term reputation issues following the events, which in the worst scenarios could lead to them ceasing to work in their profession altogether.

For employees and their families, the consequences could be worse still, resulting in serious injury and in the worst cases, death. As illustrated in the story above, even short falls can be dangerous, making it impossible for the victims to return to work for a period of time due to their physical and psychological trauma.

In order to prevent situations like the examples mentioned above, it is vital that employers follow a short list of simple procedures:

Provide the correct height safety equipment for specific jobs, ensuring that all factors have been taken into account.
Ensure that all equipment is regularly tested and is suitable for use.
Conduct proper risk assessments and make sure that all staff are properly briefed on safety procedures.

We provide a large number of height safety solutions here at SafetyLiftinGear, all of which are intended to provide maximum protection whilst working at height. To see our full range, click here.

23 Nov 2015

Daredevil Climbs Eiffel Tower Without Safety Equipment

mike Health & Safety

James Kingston, a 25 year old daredevil from Hampshire, climbed the Eiffel Tower at 1am with no safety precautions. That’s right - no safety harness or safety ropes! James, who has previously climbed Wembley Stadium, The Princess Tower in Dubai and Dnipro Towers in Ukraine without any safety precautions in place, evaded the security guards and CCTV, but was finally caught by security and arrested at 9am. He was released without charge but was banned from climbing the Eiffel tower for 3 years.

This got us thinking about all of our customers who regularly work at height in a number of different industries, and about how dangerous their work really is. We at SafetyLiftinGear cannot stress enough just how vital it is to use the correct safety equipment, such as specialist harnesses, fall arrest blocks, and safety ropes to prevent any accidents or injuries if you suddenly slip or fall from a structure.

Here at SafetyLiftinGear/ we have a large variety of safety harnesses, from a basic full body rescue harness through to specialist rope access and insulated harnesses. Stay safe when you are working at height, and don’t try to recreate James’s stunt while operating at height.

Click here to view all our products in our Height Safety Department. If you have any questions about the products then please contact us and a member of our customer service team will get back to you.

13 Nov 2015

The Importance of Good Quality Height Safety Equipment

robin Health & Safety

Recently a news story came to our attention, which brought home how essential the service we provide truly is. This story concerned the death of a 59 year old dock worker, who was tragically killed when supervising the loading of large steel pipes onto a ship in Hartlepool. The worker lost his footing, leading to a fall which ended with him landing on the steel floor of the ship's hold, killing him outright.

Since then, the operator has pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety Work Act, which confirms the sad reality that this fatal mishap could have been prevented if proper health and safety equipment had been used. While there is an ongoing dispute in the courts concerning the use of soft landing systems, we can't help but think that this is a fairly weak solution.

The best way to prevent an accident or fatality as a result of working at height, is by using the correct height safety equipment - why reduce the impact of a fall when you could prevent it altogether? This is why SafetyLiftinGear stock a comprehensive selection of height safety kits, designed to offer the maximum level of protection.

Don't allow a tragedy like this to happen in your workplace! If you're concerned that you're not using the correct height safety equipment, or would like advice on choosing the right products, call our expert customer service team on 0808 132 6969, or send an email to sales@safetylifingear.com.

06 Nov 2015

3 Safe Lifting Tips

Safety Liftin Gear Health & Safety

As the name suggests, here at SafetyLiftinGear, we specialise in supplying lifting equipment to manufacturing companies, warehouses, event riggers, and more. It is important when you are using heavy lifting equipment that you use it correctly to ensure that your equipment lasts a long time and to create a safe work place for you and your employees. Here are 3 tips on how to use your lifting equipment safely:

Do not exceed capacity of your lifting equipment

If your try and lift a load that is over the Working Load Limit (WLL) you are putting your equipment under structural strain and could result in your equipment becoming irreversibly damaged or even break when in use, causing your load to fall which could cause your load to be damaged, or worse, fatal injury to you or a colleague.

Exceeding the WLL could also cause your load to swing, causing damage to your load, structures around you, or even people working in and around the area. It is crucial that you know the weight of the load that you are lifting, so you know which equipment is best for the job.

Click here to view our range of load weighing equipment

Make sure your find the loads centre of gravity

If you are lifting heavy load, even or uneven loads it is important that you test the centre of gravity, this is to stop your load from falling from height and causing an accident. To test the centre of gravity of your load, lift it up a few inches off the ground, and stop – if your load falls then there will be little harm if it falls.

Use a load arrestor as backup in case your primary lifting method fails

If you have accidently over loaded your equipment or you have not found the correct centre of gravity of your load, you could end up dropping your load from a great height. Load arrestors are designed to halt the decent of your load and helps to help prevent accidents always connect your load to a load arrestor.

Click here to browse our range of Load Arrestors.

You will find that most of our products have a different WLL, please ensure when purchasing a heavy lifting product that you select the adequate product for the loads you need lifting. If you are lifting a load that is 3.5 tonnes then you will need to select the piece of equipment above 3.5 tonnes not 3 tonnes. The WLL of all of our products are clearly labelled in the product description if you have any questions regarding the WLL of any of our products please contact us and an member of our customer service team will be happy to help.

06 Nov 2015

3 Safe Lifting Tips

Safety Liftin Gear Health & Safety

As the name suggests, here at SafetyLiftinGear, we specialise in supplying lifting equipment to manufacturing companies, warehouses, event riggers, and more. It is important when you are using heavy lifting equipment that you use it correctly to ensure that your equipment lasts a long time and to create a safe work place for you and your employees. Here are 3 tips on how to use your lifting equipment safely:

Do not exceed capacity of your lifting equipment

If your try and lift a load that is over the Working Load Limit (WLL) you are putting your equipment under structural strain and could result in your equipment becoming irreversibly damaged or even break when in use, causing your load to fall which could cause your load to be damaged, or worse, fatal injury to you or a colleague.

Exceeding the WLL could also cause your load to swing, causing damage to your load, structures around you, or even people working in and around the area. It is crucial that you know the weight of the load that you are lifting, so you know which equipment is best for the job.

Click here to view our range of load weighing equipment

Make sure your find the loads centre of gravity

If you are lifting heavy load, even or uneven loads it is important that you test the centre of gravity, this is to stop your load from falling from height and causing an accident. To test the centre of gravity of your load, lift it up a few inches off the ground, and stop – if your load falls then there will be little harm if it falls.

Use a load arrestor as backup in case your primary lifting method fails

If you have accidently over loaded your equipment or you have not found the correct centre of gravity of your load, you could end up dropping your load from a great height. Load arrestors are designed to halt the decent of your load and helps to help prevent accidents always connect your load to a load arrestor.

Click here to browse our range of Load Arrestors.

You will find that most of our products have a different WLL, please ensure when purchasing a heavy lifting product that you select the adequate product for the loads you need lifting. If you are lifting a load that is 3.5 tonnes then you will need to select the piece of equipment above 3.5 tonnes not 3 tonnes. The WLL of all of our products are clearly labelled in the product description if you have any questions regarding the WLL of any of our products please contact us and an member of our customer service team will be happy to help.

27 Oct 2015

Builder Dangles from Safety Harness After Slipping from a Bridge

mike Health & Safety

Wearing and using the correct safety gear when you are working at height is essential, as you can see in this video. If this worker had not been following safety precautions and wearing a harness, he could have very easily had a fatal accident.

As we have discussed on numerous occasions, working at height can be very dangerous. If you have an accident while working at height and you have not followed the correct safety precautions, it could potentially have lethal consequences. No matter how many times you have carried out the job before, all it takes is one slip or one gust of wind to cause a deadly fall.

Here at SafetyLiftinGear, we specialise in height safety equipment and stock a range of specialist harnesses, fall arrest blocks, tripods, winches and roof anchors to help prevent fatal accidents occurring at height.

Visit Our Height Safety Department to purchase everything you need to safely work at heights.

14 Oct 2015

Firm Fined £15,000 for Height Safety Breaches.

Safety Liftin Gear Health & Safety

As an employer by law you are responsible to ensure that any work at height is, kept to a minimum, properly planned, supervised and carried out by correctly trained, competent people and that the work at height activities must not be carried out in unsuitable weather conditions for example, when its icy, windy, or raining. If you are not following these laws you could face large fines, just like a cladding firm based in Derby discovered on a routine check from a health and safety inspector. After finding the company did not the appropriate measures in place for protecting their employees while they were working at height and was fined £15,000. To avoid a potential fatal accident, hefty fines or closure of your business, it is essential that you follow the working at height regulations.

When working at height follow these 3 simple rules;

1) Avoid working at height if you can, if there is no reason for you climb up there – don’t.

2) If you can’t avoid working at height, then use the correct equipment to prevent falls. Here at SafetyLiftinGear we have a huge variety of rope access systems, roof anchors, and safety lines to help prevent falls from height.

3) If you can’t eliminate the risk of a fall you should use the correct equipment to minimise the impact of a fall. In our Height Safety Department you will find our high quality range of fall arrest blocks, and specialist harnesses to help minimize the impact of a fall.

Click here to browse our full range of Height Safety Equipment, or give us a call on 0808 123 6969 to discuss any requirements with a member of our specialist customer service team.