Building refurbishment and repair picks up pace with the arrival of spring and more sunshine.
The better weather of the spring and summer seasons is usually the time when gutters are cleared out, soffits are repaired, homes and commercial buildings are painted and as this activity peaks the risk of accidents when people are working at heights.
The most recent figures on accidents suffered by people who were working at height are for 2010 and showed a reduction from 99 the previous year to 60 in 2010. Of these 60% involved some form of injury.
These figures do not give any picture of non-industrial accidents for householders carrying out their own home repairs.
However, the reduction is welcome news, suggesting that the messages about working safely at height may be getting through although there is no room for complacency while people are still suffering from injury.
THe HSE (Health and Safety Executive), which regulates safe working practices, also publishes examples of the kinds of accidents that can happen during high level cleaning and other maintenance work.
In one example a cold store manager climbed into an unlit roof space. When he stepped off the boarded area he fell between the ceiling joists, through the fragile panels of a ceiling, into a battery-charging room below.
A second example involved a fitter who was removing a ceiling suspended pipe in a disused cheese department while standing on a 2.5 m-high scaffold that had no handrails. The pipe slipped, knocking him off the scaffold. He sustained broken ribs and a broken collarbone. No risk assessment had been carried out before the job nor were adequate instructions given.
The second example illustrates an important point about ensuring that work can be carried out safely, and this is that the risks in the specific location should be properly assessed and particularly in relation to the tasks to be carried out before planning the actual work itself.
Even where sub contractors are to be used building facilities managers are still required to carry out the assessment and ensure safety measures are in place for their own workers. However, they also have a duty of care for anyone working on the premises regardless of whether the sub contractor has also assessed the situation.
Generally the cost of leasing all the right safety equipment and training in-house staff to use it is not the most economical option and it is worth using specialist high level cleaning contractors.
They are already supplied with their own equipment, such as scissor lifts and self-propelled booms and trained operatives, including trained rope access teams, who will be able to carry out the work thoroughly and safely.
They will also create a programme of work that will clean overheads and high level structures in a way to ensure dust and residues do not fall onto products in the area below and cause contamination.
A regular high level clean can be an important part of maintenance in large work areas where products like food are being produced and it is crucial that there is no risk of anything falling into and contaminating them.
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High level cleaning is an activity where the risk of accidents is high and safety measures are essential. By Ali Withers. http://www.pro-ductclean.com/high-level-cleaning.asp
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