The HSE will be visiting construction sites across the UK until the end of the year in a campaign to reduce falls from vehicles.

Each year around 2,000 workers are seriously injured and five killed across all industries, with construction accounting for 10%. Unlike other industries, 70% of accidents involving falls from vehicles happen to workers on site, rather than drivers.

The HSE offers the following advice:

  • Vehicles should be well maintained and checked regularly.
  • Procedures for loading and unloading should avoid the need to work at height where possible.
  • Floor surfaces should be anti-slip when possible, or slip-resistant footwear should be provided.
  • If work at height on vehicles is unavoidable, steps, platforms and other safety equipment should be provided.

One solution when work at height can’t be avoided is to build a docking platform (as our BoKlok blogger Gavin Skelly has done – see page 12). Another idea might be to use a new device from Mercia Lifting Gear, which developed its Catchfall system after feedback from one of its clients, Canary Wharf Contractors .

Catchfall consists of two 5.5m-high jib arms with counter-balanced bases positioned at either side of an unloading area. Workers attach hooks at the end of retractable lifelines to lanyards on their harnesses, which allow safe work over the area of an artic. For 6m lorries, one jib is sufficient.

l For more information, and posters to download, visit www.hse.gov.uk/fallsfromvehicles

Source

Construction Manager