Work at height whose concern

WORK AT HEIGHT, WHOSE

CONCERNS?

Victor Momanyi

HSE Officer

KEC International

Kenya

WHY HEALTH AND SAFETY IS IMPORTANT

� People - accidents and ill-health do harm.

� The Law - breaking Health & Safety law is a

criminal offence for which individuals can be

fined or imprisoned.

� The Business - health or safety incidents can

have an immediate impact. Loss of confidence by

customers and investors can be even more

serious and result in job losses.

HEALTH & SAFETY INDUCTION

�Above all else, it’s

your own attitude

which has the

biggest influence

on whether you

will suffer

injury or ill-health.

� think safety

WORKING AT HEIGHT

Definition

� A fall which you drop from one surface to a lower

surface or elevation

� Working at elevated areas:

• Roofs, Scaffolds, Ladders, Bigger

equipments/machines

• Working at height or depth of 1.8m or above to be

considered as working at height and adequate

working arrangements and fall protection to be

made to prevent fall of persons and materials.

FALL PROTECTION DEVICES

� Fall Protection Components

� Full body safety Harness – the device which

attaches to the person.

� Double Lanyard – the device which connects the

harness to the anchorage point

FALL PROTECTION DEVICES CONT’D

� Lifeline or Retractable device – the intermediate

attachment point which is used in some

applications to allow for greater range of vertical

or horizontal Movement

� NB

� Lanyards must incorporate shock absorbers

� Anchorage point must be designed to support

load.

WHY TO USE SAFETY HARNESS & LIFE

LINE WHILE WORKING AT HEIGHT

�A lot of construction site

workers tend to assume

that they are just safe or

smart when working at

height.

� It’s always advisable to

employ all the required

measures when working

at heights.

�Please see the incident- photographs

of our construction site . Due to

usage of fall protection ( i.e safety

harness and lifeline) all workmen

were arrested from falling down and

rescued.

CONVINCE ME : WHY A SAFETY HARNESS

& LIFE LINES

Seems like Bungee jumping, but that’s how effective

a Life line can be

A closer look, yes they are huddled together but safe,

attached with double lanyards to the life line

The damage is colossal, but all the Lives are safe,

Help is coming

A man is safely lifted by a crane hoop carrying a belt.

Using the Belt, he safely secures them to the hoop.

Some support is provided from beneath with an

excavator bucket

Careful, human beings are fragile, you are too..

The workers have to disentangle

Workers are safely lowered to the Ground

RECOMMENDATIONS

�Please, I know there is even a better way

that we would have used to evacuate

those workers to safety, a lot of near

misses reports and investigation reports.

�Submit your comments and I will be glad

to improve safety standards.