Height Safety Awareness

Whenever there is a risk of a fall from one level to another that is reasonably likely to cause injury to the person or any other person.

Note: there is no mention of a specific height before the PCBU needs to act: this is because the old 2m rule did not take into account what happened during the fall or at the end of the fall where serious & fatal injuries were still happening

What it means: the PCBU should do a risk assessment of the workplace wherever there is a change from one level to another and then eliminate or control the fall risk.

The PCBU should eliminate or control the 3 things that can fall:

1. People
2. Tools
3. Materials

Use the height hierarchy of control, in order

1. Work from the ground
2. Work on a solid construction
3. Use a fall protection device
4. Use fall restraint
5. Use fall arrest
6. Use a ladder

plus step back, look at the whole situation and do a risk assessment in consultation, using authoritive information to help you.

Fall risks should be eliminated to the ‘lowest practicable level’

which is determined by:

1. What you know, or ought to know, about the fall risks
2. The probability of the fall occurring
3. The consequence, if the fall occurred
4. What you know, or ought to know, about best practice fall elimination & control methods
5. The availability & suitably of fall elimination & control methods
6. The cost of eliminating or controlling the fall risks is irrelevant unless hugely disproportional

Information that helps with the risk assessment. The main authoritive information for most things are the WHS Regulations, Codes of Practice & Australian Standards. See the Code of practice for ‘Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces

Other examples are:

• SafetWork NSW safety alerts put on their website
• manufacturers manuals
• generic Safe Work Method Statements from industry bodies
• consultation with competent people
• your inspection of the height job
• your previous experience

A competent person, in consultation, should identify all reasonably foreseeable hazards ‘whenever there is a risk of a fall from one level to another that is reasonably likely to cause injury to the person or any other person’.

Then for each hazard, work out the probability of it occurring and the consequence of it occurring; That is the risk level of each fall hazard.

When assessing the risks arising from each fall hazard, the following should be considered:

1. the design and layout of elevated work areas, including the distance of a potential fall
2. the number and movement of all people at the workplace
3. the proximity of workers to unsafe areas where loads are placed on elevated working areas (for example, loading docks) and where work is to be carried out above people and there is a risk of falling objects
4. the adequacy of inspection and maintenance of plant and equipment (for example, scaffolding)
5. the adequacy of lighting for clear vision
6. weather conditions—the presence of rain, wind, extreme heat or cold can cause slippery or unstable conditions
7. the suitability of footwear and clothing for the conditions
8. the suitability and condition of ladders, including where and how they are being used
9. the adequacy of current knowledge and training to perform the task safely (for example, young, new or inexperienced workers may be unfamiliar with a task)
10. the adequacy of procedures for all potential emergency situations.

Your fall hazards will then come to be high, medium or low.

You then eliminate or control the fall risks to a low level, starting with the highest first