Working at Heights can have Catastrophic Results

Certain roles carry an inherent risk and working at heights presents obvious challenges in terms of employees’ health and safety.

The HSE website gives clear advice and sets out that, even if a job takes mere minutes, sensible precautions (such as harnesses for example) should be taken.

Anyone working at height should be properly trained and competent.  Clearly a negligent colleague could be as much of a danger as the height itself in risky circumstances.  The legal document that sets out how to manage a difficult job is called a ‘method statement’ and it clearly sets out each step in a procedure to ensure the work is done, but that risk is managed.

When there are contractors at work on a premises, as in the enclosed article involving a death at a Morrisons warehouse in Wakefield, it is important that contractors, and the business they are serving, work closely and make arrangements that reflect a business’ knowledge of the environment and the pitfalls that may befall someone working in a challenging situation, such as a high or fragile roof.

Indeed, a roof can hold a number of hidden dangers, such as sky lights, worn sections that could give way when weight is added and unseen edges and openings.

It does not seem that the cause of the roof collapse in the Morrisons accident described here has yet been identified, as it is not highlighted in the article, but it serves to demonstrate how carefully work should be managed.

Sadly, in this instance an employee lost their life and their family is left to reflect on how safe they were at work and how a day at work could result in such a terrible outcome.

Indeed, the HSE website outlines that one in five deaths in construction work involves roof work.  Simple tasks such as repairing and cleaning rooves can be inherently dangerous.

When the job appears simple, it can be tempting to ‘cut corners’ and not complete or consider appropriate procedures (such as method statements) but tragic stories such as the one involving the contractor at Morrisons show us how devasting the outcome of such shortcuts can be (if indeed it transpires that this is what led to their untimely death).

Our thoughts are with the family of this individual, whose industrial accident led to what a Morrisons spokesman described as a ‘shocking tragedy’.

Links:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/roofwork.htm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-62385014