07.01.2005

Two metre rule to go

After a last minute six week consultation period (following strong lobbying from construction industry bodies) which ended in December , the UK’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE) looks set to recommend to the Health & Safety Commission that the long accepted two metre rule, currently contained in the Construction Health Safety and Welfare Regulations, should not be carried over into the new work at height directive.

The current rules are quite prescriptive about the extra safety measures that must be taken when working at height but only apply to platform heights of two metres of more. The concern among contractors and access specialists was that by not specifying a minimum height at which the new work at height regulations will apply, the new rules would create a “field day” for the lunatic fringe among safety officers and inspectors, leading to excesses such as full guardrail requirements for a 300mm high library step!

The HSE called industry bodies such as IPAF, the National Scaffolding Association, contractor representatives and unions to a meeting in London this week to discuss its decision. The HSE will make its recommendation to HSC at a meeting on 11 January, following which HSC will make a final decision on whether the rule should be included in the regulations.

Tim Whiteman, managing director of IPAF, who represented IPAF at the meeting, said that the mood at the meeting had been positive and conciliatory. The main argument from those against retaining the two metre rule, is that the new directive is far less prescriptive about what steps must be taken when working at height. The new rules will simply require employers to carry out an assessment of the risks when working at height, and then take steps to mitigate them.

He gave Vertikal an example such as “tradesmen working only a metre high over exposed re-bar would be at considerable risk if they fell while in another situation the risk at an even greater height might be minimal”. “The new rules simply demand that no matter what the height, a risk assessment is carried out and steps taken to ensure safety”

He also said that as part of this process industry bodies such as IPAF have been encouraged to take the lead in drawing up sensible, practical recommendations for assessing risks when working at height. Such recommendations are then likely to become points of reference in any investigations or prosecutions following an accident.

IPAF has been against the retention of the Two metre rule because it believes that this could reduce employers’ commitment to safe working at lower heights when almost two thirds of all major injuries from falls involve heights of less than two metres.