29.01.2014

New guidance on working at height

The UK HSE has published its new guidance to working at height, including two new concise, easy to read guide books.

The launch of this new guidance is pitched by the UK government as a significant step towards reducing red tape, but this is something of a myth as there are no legal changes to what is effectively European wide working at height legislation. However this does not detract from what are major improvements.

The new guides' Work at height - A brief guide' and 'Safe use of ladders - A brief guide' can be accessed free of charge on line, is significantly simpler to understand and makes it very clear what anyone who works at height or their employers, need to do to properly plan any work at height and dispels a number of classic myths.
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Work at height - A brief guide

The HSE summarises the new guidance as:
- Providing simple advice about do's and don'ts when working at height to ensure people are clear on what the law requires
- Busting some of the persistent myths about health and safety law, such as the banning of ladders when they can still be used
- Offering targeted advice to helping business in different sectors manage serious risks sensibly and proportionately
- Helping workers to be clearer about their own responsibilities for working safely.
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Safe use of ladders – A brief guide’

Printed versions of the two publications are also available for a small fee and can be ordered online, they are hosted on an improved working at height web page which is an excellent source for anyone who works at height. Click here to go directly to the page . The guides are clearly visible but if you prefer click here to go directly to Work at height - A brief guide' and here for Safe use of ladders - A brief guide' We will also host them in our on-line library.
Click to go directly to the guides section of the library
HSE chairman Judith Hackitt said: "It is important to get working at height right. Falls remain one of the biggest causes of serious workplace injury - with more than 40 people killed and 4,000 suffering major injuries every year. We have a sensible set of regulations and have been working with business to improve our guidance - making it simpler and clearer and dispelling some of the persistent myths about what the law requires."

"The result is advice that employers can count on to help them manage their businesses sensibly and proportionately. The need to ensure people understand what the law requires was identified in the independent review of health and safety regulation undertaken by Professor Ragnar L￶fstedt, and this proposal has been developed through the Red Tape Challenge."

Vertikal Comment

While the announcement of this new guidance is being trumpeted as an example of the government cutting red tape etc.., for which there are no real changes. The reality is that this is a major step forward in the way such guidance is written.

Gone is much of the jargon and the attempts to cover all eventualities (including the publisher's rear end) which cause the eyes of the most important readers (those who are not civil servants, lawyers or career safety specialists) to glaze over, as they give up the will to live trying to read and understand the content - making them as good as useless.

Hopefully this is a change that will be extended to other areas within the lifting field.