Last month we welcomed over 45 attendees from a wide variety of sectors to our head office in Leeds for the Yorkshire Work at Height Breakfast Seminar (YWABS).
The event provided an opportunity for the work at height industry to collaborate in the interest of raising WAH safety, sharing best practice and knowledge.
We asked attendees what they felt were the key learnings from attending the event. Here are the results of the feedback survey.
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1. Rescue Planning
It’s your responsibility to ensure that a rescue plan is in place
There is a legal requirement under the Work at Height Regulations to include plans for emergencies and rescue when planning work. The Regulations also stipulate that all activities, including rescue, must be carried out by a competent person.
Do not rely on the emergency services: it is not their duty to rescue a fallen worker. However, you still need to alert the emergency services as soon as someone falls; they will be able to offer first aid support.
Read more here on how to develop a Rescue Plan.
2. IPAF Categories
The IPAF training categories, with abbreviations can sometimes be a little but confusing.
Attendees were challenged to an IPAF quiz and were also given a handy IPAF categories poster to take back to the office.
You can download your copy and find out more about the IPAF categories here.
3. IPAF MEWPS for Managers
IPAF’s MEWPs for Managers course (MEWPs = mobile elevating work platforms) covers what managers or supervisors need to know to safely manage work at height and the use of MEWPs on site.
Dave Treacher, Senior IPAF Instructor provided a fantastic taster session of the MEWPS for Managers Course at the event. His interactive presentation covered what managers need to know about MEWPs, planning and conducting a risk assessment as well as selecting the right equipment.
The feedback from the session was excellent and there was a lot of interest in attending the full course. As a result, we are running an IPAF MEWPs for Managers training course here at our head office in Leeds on the 28th March.
Click here to find out more about the course and booking.
Watch the video below to find out what are the key benefits of attending the MEWPs for Mangers Course.
4.HLS Products
Five years ago, we launched the own-brand Hugo Lift – a pioneering access platform designed to provide a safer working environment when working at height indoors.
The event was in part a showcase for this innovative product. Stuart Honeywood, Managing Director at HLS provided a demonstration of this impressive piece of kit which has proven invaluable in a wide range of industries particularly when there is restricted access or as a safer alternative to using steps or ladders.
We also displayed a full range of our equipment, from platform steps, through to non-powered platforms and bespoke solutions. These were doted around the room so that attendees could see for themselves the wide range of products we have available.
5. How often work at height accidents happen
In 2018/17 144 people were killed at work in the UK. Of those, 35 fatalities were a direct result of a work at height accident. That’s the biggest cause of workplace deaths accounting for 3 per month.
There were also 555,000 non-fatal injuries, of those 44,400 were injured from a fall from height. Aastonishingly that’s 121 injuries everyday in the UK alone.
Non-fatal accidents are often life changing and typically involve a broken bone, which can mean being off from work for a long period of time. Surprisingly, over two thirds of major work at height injuries are caused by low falls (less than 2 metres).
