The key piece of legislation for people who work at potentially dangerous heights in Great Britain is The Work at Height Regulations 2005. As stated on the HSE website, this legislation was put in place "to prevent death and injury caused by a fall from height". The regulations state that work at height must be:

• Properly planned
• Appropriately supervised
• Carried out in a safe manner by competent personnel only

Interestingly, the 2005 regulations do not specify any particular equipment that must be used when working at height - they simply state the need for "sufficent work equipment" and remind employers that, when selecting appropriate height safety equipment for any given task, they must take account of working conditions, fall distance, the duration of the job, and several other factors.

In a nutshell: the law doesn't state that you HAVE to use a safety harness or a fall arrest block, but you are required to have some kind of fall prevention system in place, and the aforementioned items are among the most commonly-used solutions. In the end, it is up to you to decide what kind of equipment is most appropriate for the task at hand.

What will happen if I don't use any height safety equipment?

If one of your employees suffers an accident whilst working at height, you may investigated by the Health and Safety Executive. If they decide that you neglected to provide the right safety equipment or otherwise failed to fulfil your duties as an employer (as prescribed by the 2005 regulations and several other pieces of legislation), you will likely be prosecuted, which can lead to hefty fines and even jail time.

So don't leave anything to chance! Plan your work properly, carry out a full risk assessment before starting, and always use the appropriate height safety equipment to minimise the risk of a fall.

Further Reading: Height Safety Checklist

The key piece of legislation for people who work at potentially dangerous heights in Great Britain is The Work at Height Regulations 2005. As stated on the HSE website, this legislation was put in place "to prevent death and injury caused by a fall from height". The regulations state that work at height must be:

• Properly planned
• Appropriately supervised
• Carried out in a safe manner by competent personnel only

Interestingly, the 2005 regulations do not specify any particular equipment that must be used when working at height - they simply state the need for "sufficent work equipment" and remind employers that, when selecting appropriate height safety equipment for any given task, they must take account of working conditions, fall distance, the duration of the job, and several other factors.

In a nutshell: the law doesn't state that you HAVE to use a safety harness or a fall arrest block, but you are required to have some kind of fall prevention system in place, and the aforementioned items are among the most commonly-used solutions. In the end, it is up to you to decide what kind of equipment is most appropriate for the task at hand.

What will happen if I don't use any height safety equipment?

If one of your employees suffers an accident whilst working at height, you may investigated by the Health and Safety Executive. If they decide that you neglected to provide the right safety equipment or otherwise failed to fulfil your duties as an employer (as prescribed by the 2005 regulations and several other pieces of legislation), you will likely be prosecuted, which can lead to hefty fines and even jail time.

So don't leave anything to chance! Plan your work properly, carry out a full risk assessment before starting, and always use the appropriate height safety equipment to minimise the risk of a fall.

Further Reading: Height Safety Checklist

When presented with a heavy load, you may occasionally be tempted to just lift it on your own, rather than calling for help or using the proper lifting equipment. You're pretty strong, and after all, you're only carrying it a short distance - what could go wrong?

Well...a lot of things, actually. Heavy lifting is serious business, and you can really hurt yourself if you don't do it in the right way. Here are some of the risks you run when you lift a heavy load without the proper assistance and/or equipment...

More...

When presented with a heavy load, you may occasionally be tempted to just lift it on your own, rather than calling for help or using the proper lifting equipment. You're pretty strong, and after all, you're only carrying it a short distance - what could go wrong?

Well...a lot of things, actually. Heavy lifting is serious business, and you can really hurt yourself if you don't do it in the right way. Here are some of the risks you run when you lift a heavy load without the proper assistance and/or equipment:

• Of all the problems that can arise from heavy lifting, musculoskeletal disorders are perhaps the most widespread. Back injury is a particularly common complaint in people who handle heavy loads on a regular basis.
  
  
• If you're carrying a load that's too heavy for you, there's an increased chance that you will drop it, and this in turn can lead to all sorts of injuries (broken toes are an obvious one - many a heavy object has been dropped onto the feet of the person carrying it!) And, of course, accidentally dropping the load you're carrying can result in damaged goods, too.
  
  
• Attempting to carry a load that's too heavy to lift by manpower alone puts a terrible strain on your body, which can lead to painful muscle sprains and tears. You could also end up with a slipped disc or a hernia.

To steer clear of these (and other) risks, be sure to seek assistance when tackling heavy loads and use the appropriate manual handling equipment when necessary.

Working at height can be very dangerous - we recently compiled a seven-point height safety checklist to outline some best practices, and then we added another three points just to make sure. In today's blog, we'd like to show you a few examples of how not to work safely at heights; let's see what lessons we can learn from these photographs...

Lesson #1 - Always wear a safety harness!

Lesson #2 - No haphazard pile of paint tins (or whatever else you have lying around) will ever be as safe as a properly-footed ladder.

Lesson #3 - No, seriously, you should be wearing a safety harness. What's to stop you from slipping and falling?

Lesson #4 - A ladder mounted on the scoop of a digger is no substitute for a cherry picker (depressingly, there are loads of other photos like this on the internet!)

Lesson #5 - PPE will only help you up to a point (we found this image on the HSE website, and as they pointed out, the hard hats and hi-vis jackets won't do much to protect those two men if they fall!)

Now that you've seen the mistakes that some people make, visit our Height Safety department and make sure you don't make them too!

(image via Flickr)

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) account for roughly one-third of all workplace injuries. Common MSDs include tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and lower back injuries.

Just because your job isn't based around manual labour doesn't necessarily mean that you won't be affected by musculoskeletal problems. In this blog post, the SafetyLiftinGear team will share some health and safety tips that should help you and your employees/colleagues to steer clear of MSDs at work.

• Use ergonomic equipment. Perhaps the most common causes of musculoskeletal disorders - at least in office environments - are poor posture and repetitive strain. Employes can address these factors by providing ergonomic equipment for their workers - you can get ergonomic chairs, keyboards, computer mice, and a variety of other items that are designed to prevent MSDs and related complaints.
  
  
• Lift heavy items properly. We recently published a safe lifting guide, which explains, step-by-step, how to lift heavy loads without injuring oneself.
  
  
• Use the correct material handling equipment where necessary. Handling injuries are very common across many different working environments. It's not always sensible to lift heavy objects using manpower alone - some loads should only be transported using a forklift, pallet truck, or similar.
  
  
• Carry out a workplace risk assessment. Conducting a thorough risk assessment is key to keeping the workplace safe for all who use it. Risk assessments should be carried out by trained health and safety personnel, and renewed whenever there is a significant change in the working environment.

(image via Flickr)

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) account for roughly one-third of all workplace injuries. Common MSDs include tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and lower back injuries.

Just because your job isn't based around manual labour doesn't necessarily mean that you won't be affected by musculoskeletal problems. In this blog post, the SafetyLiftinGear team will share some health and safety tips that should help you and your employees/colleagues to steer clear of musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace.

• Use ergonomic equipment. Perhaps the most common causes of workplace musculoskeletal disorders are poor posture and repetitive strain. Employers can address this by providing ergonomic equipment for their workers - you can get ergonomic chairs, keyboards, computer mice, and a variety of other items that are designed to prevent musculoskeletal disorders and related complaints.
  
  
• Lift heavy items properly. We recently published a safe lifting guide, which explains, step-by-step, how to lift heavy loads without injuring oneself. If you repeatedly lift heavy objects in a manner that puts strain on your body, it's likely you will end up with a workplace musculoskeletal disorder - so lift with care!
  
  
• Use the correct material handling equipment where necessary. Material handling injuries are very common across many different working environments. It's not always sensible to lift heavy objects using manpower alone - some loads should only be transported using a forklift, pallet truck, or similar.
  
  
• Carry out a workplace risk assessment. Conducting a thorough risk assessment is key to keeping the workplace safe for all who use it. Risk assessments should be carried out by trained health and safety personnel, and renewed whenever there is a significant change in the working environment.

By following these simple health and safety steps, you can drastically reduce your chances of a workplace musculoskeletal disorder.