03.06.2004

HSE claim designers are getting the message over falls from height

The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) construction Inspectors held a series of meetings in April at 122 sites in Scotland and Northern England focussing particularly on falls from height. Designers had the opportunity to explain what they have done, during the design stage, to meet regulation 13 of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM) Work at height continues to be the most significant cause of fatal accidents on construction sites in the UK, responsible for around 40% of all deaths.

Kevin Myers, HSE’s Chief Inspector of Construction, said:
“Analysis of designer performance suggests a marked improvement in comparison with a similar initiative conducted in March 2003. In particular, positive progress appears to have been made in relation to designers' knowledge of the law, training, and the practical steps that should be taken to reduce risks on site.”

In the 2004 initiative HSE inspectors found that:
60% of those visited were judged to have adequate or good knowledge of their legal duties under CDM and other relevant legislation. This compares with 33% reported in 2003;

nearly 62% of designers had effectively succeeded in minimising the risks associated with work at height during construction and maintenance. This compares with 34% (construction) and 33% (maintenance) reported in 2003.

These figures, although representing significant progress since 2003, indicate that many designers are still falling short of the required standard. In particular the value and the quality of paperwork such as design risk assessments was found to be generally poor. During the 2004 initiative inspectors issued written advice to over 20 designers. A number of the problems highlighted in the 2003 initiative were again encountered by inspectors, some typical examples of poor practice being:

The apparent reluctance to accept design responsibility for risk reduction; e.g. one designer identified ‘work at height’ as a hazard, and suggested 'Principal Contractor to provide suitable towers and access equipment' as a remedy.

One architect assumed that safety netting could be used to prevent falls, but did not know whether their structure would be suitable for attaching the nets to.

Poorly designed forms for recording design risk assessments; e.g. several inspectors commented on the use of generic assessments which failed to consider project-specific detail, and therefore did little to improve the safety of those on site