Recently, we came across a news story regarding a scaffolder from Bristol, who suffered life-changing head injuries as a result of falling 9 metres while dismantling a scaffold. The HSE investigated the firm in question following this incident, and found that no preventative measures had been taken to avoid the accident, which means that they were held fully responsible for the worker's injuries.
They were subsequently fined £26,250 for failing to comply with the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which clearly states that work should be properly planned, supervised and carried to secure safety. The firm were found to have neglected their duty as employers by failing to provide proper equipment and training for their employees, a simple step which could have prevented this incident.
Sadly, cases like this are not uncommon, which is why you often see us writing about them here, in an attempt to remind people why providing and using the correct safety equipment is so important. For some strange reason, health and safety is often neglected in professions like scaffolding, due to a misguided sense of invincibility, coupled with the idea that harnesses will somehow make life more difficult.
No matter how well-trained or experienced someone is at their job, there is always the risk of human error, or hazards posed by matters beyond their control. To ensure that the risk of suffering a serious or fatal injury is reduced as much as possible, it is vitally important that employers and workers make use of the proper resources available to them. Here at SafetyLiftinGear, we stock a huge variety of
safety harnesses, all of which are intended to provide an extra measure of security for individuals working at height. Using harnesses, as proven by the case above (as well as countless others which occur frequently throughout the UK) can mean the difference between life and death, providing a secure lifeline when things go wrong and errors occur.
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