Roof Auckland Examine Health & Safety in Working at Heights

Roof Auckland have a stringent Health & Safety plan in place regarding working at heights in the workplace, as quite apart from anything else, safer sites lead to greater productivity. Preventing falls from height is a priority for WorkSafe and it expects that work at height is actively managed so that people are not harmed.

Investigations by WorkSafe into falls while working at height show that more than 50 percent of falls are from less than three metres and approximately 70 percent of falls are from ladders and roofs. The cost of these falls is estimated to be $24 million a year – to say nothing of the human cost as a result of these falls.

Factors contributing to injuries sustained from working at height include lack of or inadequate planning and hazard assessment, inadequate supervision, insufficient training for the task being carried out, incorrect protection or equipment choices, incorrect use or set-up of equipment including personal protective equipment, unwillingness to change the way a task is carried out when a safer alternative is identified and suitable equipment being unavailable.

More injuries happen on residential building sites than any other workplace in the construction sector. The Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (the HSE Act) sets out the performance required of duty holders. People with a duty must take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of workers when they are exposed to a fall or where the hazard of a fall exists.

The Good Practice Guidelines Working at Height in New Zealand provide health and safety guidance to all people working at height and those involved in the planning and preparatory stages of any project that includes work at height.

These guidelines also outline how people working at height and those involved in the process can meet their obligations under the HSE Act and the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995 (HSE Regulations). These guidelines and adherence to them may be relevant as evidence in a court.

The guidelines apply to all people who have a duty (legal obligation) to provide a safe place of work and ensure safe work practice. A list of duty holders (pursuant to the HSE Act) is in section 8 of these guidelines, so for more information on roofing specialists Auckland, colour steel roofing and roofing solutions please go to https://www.roofauckland.nz/ .