Working at heights is a common reality for construction, infrastructure maintenance, and engineering professionals. Undergoing training to conduct a proper risk assessment can mean the difference between injury, or even fatality. ACUTE offers the best in-class working at heights risk assessment and training to help keep your team on high ground.

Issues Faced When Working at Heights (WAH)

Employers must be aware of the hazards with WAH, so that their team can be adequately trained to ensure loss of working time, productivity, and falling public reputation is avoided. Without proper awareness to the many hazards faced by your team, a number of safety risks arise. Here is a short video that illustrates the risks of working at heights that can be prevented with a robust risk assessment and implementation process. Here we identify hazards such as workplace objects, chemicals, or tools that could cause harm, and define risk as the probability or likelihood of those hazards causing that harm.

What is a WAH Risk Assessment

A WAH risk assessment helps you to look at the big picture when it comes to exposing your team to the risks of working at elevated levels. Its chief goal is to ensure good practices are in place to protect employees.  An assessment includes evaluating where working at heights is absolutely necessary, identifies WAH risks, and establishes processes/standards to protect those exposed to risk.

Conducting a risk assessment supports everyone in a workplace in the following ways:

  • Awareness of the many working at heights hazards faced by the team
  • Helps manage probability of hazards
  • Establishes procedures and safety guidelines to keep work safe
  • Greater protection against regulatory sanctions on safety negligence
  • Provides ease of mind for staff

Passionate instructorHow to Tell if  a WAH Risk Assessment is Needed

If you or your team continue to experience these signs, contact ACUTE today to ensure you stay above risk.

  • Regular close calls – you continue to hear stories of near incidents indicates your team, process, or equipment may be exposed to risk.
  • Consistency of procedures – if there is a lack of clarity in how to use equipment or conduct work safety setup.
  • Complaints of Being Exposed to Risks – when employees express concerns on working at heights it could mean that there may be a means to accomplish the task without being elevated when the individual does not have confidence in procedures/equipment.

 

What are the Steps in a Working at Heights Risk AssessmentSteps towards JHSC certification

Here are steps to conducting a WAH risk assessment along with ensuring it’s relevancy as your business changes. The Health and Safety Executive offers these guidelines which have been adapted for WAH:

1- Evaluate Work that Must be Conducted at Heights

  • Analyze where work at heights is not necessary.
  • Resolve to reduce the height at which work is done.
  • Utilize technology, as some inspections may be done using camera-enabled drones.

2- Identify the Hazards and their Risk Profile

  • For each work procedure, identify and outline the hazards including: chemicals, electricity, equipment, ladders.
  • With the people who do the job, determine how hazards independently or in conjunction can cause harm.
  • Document your findings and scenarios to be further analyzed later.

3- Decide who Might be Harmed and How

  • Determine the individuals or objects that could be harmed in the scenarios identified.
  • Understand the nature and extent of harm that may occur.

working at heights risk assessment helpIf you need help conducting a working at heights risk assessment contact us here or see what others have said about ACUTE’s services:


“Very professional approach to consulting. I am not surprised about the success Acute Environmental & Safety Services has achieved over the last 15 years that I have worked with them.”

–Konstantinos Varas, ACUTE valued client
see here for more testimonials.

 

4- Evaluate the Risks and Decide on Precautions

  • Analyze the likelihood of hazards which could cause harm to an individual.
  • Rank and identify each of the probable incidents.
  • Determine measures to mitigate risks from materializing.
  • This includes identifying clear setup procedures, check-in, and take down steps.

5- Record Findings

For each finding determine what steps should be incorporated in

  • workplace training.
  • work procedures.
  • communications.

6- Review Your Assessment and Update if Necessary

  • Review findings and update your risk assessment periodically.
  • Invite open dialogue on what continues to be challenges, and celebrating achievements that continue to help your team remain safe.
  • Monitor safety outcomes like: number of incidents per quarter or other metrics can help you identify when a risk assessment should be conducted again.

Tips on Working at Heights

Here is a great list of tips for working at heights (click image below – see section: do’s and do nots) brought to you by a health and safety authority in the UK.

do's and don'ts of working at heights

Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/height.htm

 

ACUTE Provides WAH Risk Assessment Services

Training

Benefits of Choosing ACUTE for your safety training needs:

  • Our trainers have first-hand experience with what they are training.
  • Our training programs are tailored to your specific applications and your companies policies and procedures.
  • Our training can occur on site or at our first-class Training Centre.
  • We work to provide the best customer service in the industry to our clients.

ACUTE offers two courses in regards to working at heights, these offerings are popular and have also been previously sold out.

scaffolding-silhouette-1228347-639x424
1)Working at Heights – ACUTE’s Working at Height training program has been approved by the Chief Prevention Officer under the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s Working at Heights Training Program Standard and the Working at Heights Training Provider Standard. The ACUTE Working at Height training provides theory and hands on practical training and evaluation facilitated by highly skilled and competent instructors.

 

2) Advanced Working at Heights and Rescue Training – This program adds to a second, practical, rescue oriented day to the Working at heights training program described on the Working at Heights page (Link) to lead participants in developing, implementing and practicing several types of rescue plans.

 

ACUTE Guides Your Team in Conducting a WAH Risk Assessment

If you are ACUTE services logointerested in having ACUTE come and help you conduct a WAH risk assessment feel free to contact us.

Acute Safety & Safety Services is located in Waterloo, Ontario and services customers from the cities such as Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton, Milton, Kitchener, London and Guelph as well as a large list of other cities from across Ontario and North America.