Safe By Choice Monthly Safety Focus

Working At Heights

Working At Heights
Key learnings Feedback / Additional Information
Questions (discuss)

1. What hazards might be created when working at heights?

 Person falling over the edge/through the opening – serious injury to fatality
 Objects (tools, equipment, hard hats, water bottles, etc.) falling onto personnel or
equipment – serious injury to fatality.

2. What controls can be put in place to manage these hazards?

 Permanent Edge protection – handrails, kick plates
 Temporary Edge protection – Scaffolding
 Harnesses connected to: Limited length restraint lines (Restrained Fall), Inertia reels
(limited free fall – <600mm), Anchor points
 Exclusion zones – barricading and signage to prevent people from walking under
work, preventing equipment from being placed against locations where they can fall
such as edges of walkways
 Netting – to catch objects that fall, or under roofing to catch personnel
 Lanyards/chin straps – to prevent objects from falling
Q & A’s

 Approved lifting bags: to lift tools and equipment to work location

 Stillages and cages: to contain scaffold equipment (boards, tubes and fittings) and
lifting equipment (lifting lugs, slings, chains)
 Housekeeping inspections: to identify and eliminate the potential for dropped objects
 Not working alone, to facilitate rapid response
 Anti-trauma stirrups on harness when used for fall arrest to reduce the risk of injury
from being suspended/hanging for extended periods of time.

3. Can excavations be classified as a working at height risk?

Yes, where there is a risk that someone can fall from one level to another, even if that level
is below ground level it is still classified as working at heights. As a result excavations need
to be prepared so that the risk of someone or something (e.g. vehicles) falling into an
excavation can be prevented. Controls such as barricading, signage, windrow, spotters
should be considered.

4. What height do I need to wear a harness?

There isn’t a hard and fast rule for the wearing of harnesses however fatal injuries have
occurred at heights as low as 1.5m. The critical factor in making a decision with regard to
the use of harnesses is the risk assessment.

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 Safe By Choice Monthly Safety Focus
Working At Heights

5. What is the difference between fall arrest and fall prevention?

Fall arrest stops someone from hitting the ground. Fall prevention stops someone from
falling. Edge protection is an example of fall prevention and some hook up systems allow
people to move and work within an area but not right up to the edge – this is called working
in restraint.

6. What do I need to have a rescue plan?

A rescue plan is needed for all work where fall arrest equipment is used as a control.
Although fall arrest equipment is an effective control for preventing an individual from falling
a significant distance, thereby reducing the risk of serious permanent injuries or death, fall
arrest equipment can result in serious injury if a person is left suspended for a lengthy
period of time. Injuries include:
 Suspension injury/trauma or harness hang syndrome or orthostatic intolerance, is an
effect which occurs when the human body is held upright without any movement for
a period of time. If the person is strapped into a harness or tied to an upright object
they will eventually suffer the central ischaemic response (commonly known as
fainting). If the person faints but remains vertical, there is a risk of death due to the
brain not receiving the oxygen it requires. Where the person can faint and flip over
Q & A’s

additional injuries can occur from striking objects in the vicinity.

 Compartment syndrome where high pressure results in insufficient blood supply to
muscles and nerves. Acute compartment syndrome is a medical emergency that
requires surgery to correct. If untreated, the lack of blood supply leads to permanent
muscle and nerve damage and can result in the loss of function of the limb.
As a result of the potential for injuries a rescue plan is required to ensure that should a
person fall they will not be left hanging for a prolonged period of time.

7. What training do I need to work at heights

A Yara induction – for all workers.
Yara working at height training – for all workers to familiarise individuals with Yara working
at heights procedures, permits and clearance and assessing comprehension of working at
height risks.
External RTO working at height training – for all workers required to wear a harness when
working at height.

8. Discuss areas where a working at heights risk may exist in Yara.

General group discussion.

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