A YouTube recording has been made of the Working at Height awareness webinar that the Corporate Health & Safety Unit delivered in June. This webinar focused on the news story about a city council that was fined after a school caretaker died following a fall from a ladder. Schools are reminded to complete a risk assessment for all working at height activities, look for alternative safe methods to carry out the task from the ground such as ‘wash & reach’ or use a qualified contractor for the work.
Full story
A city council was fined after a school caretaker died following a fall from a ladder. He was working from height for over 3 hours in direct sunlight without a hat in temperatures exceeding 24C. CCTV footage suggested that the caretaker was fatigued as it approached 12.55pm and he was offered assistance from colleagues. He had declined advice and any assistance with cleaning the bike shed and used a ladder, standard length broom and telescopic surface cleaner to clean the surface.
The council pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 by failing to ensure that the work at height was properly planned, appropriately supervised, and was carried out in a manner which is so far as is reasonably practicable safe. A HSE spokesperson said “Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work-related fatalities in this country and the risks associated with working at height are well-known. In this case, this tragic incident led to a man’s avoidable death. This death could have been prevented if his employer had acted to plan and supervise the work activity and ensured a safe method of work was in place.”
The Jury spokesperson stated “The culture of the facilities team was relatively informal and as a consequence the caretaker was left to his own devices, working to an undocumented list of tasks with no recorded risk assessments. The majority of his jobs were undertaken away from the rest of the team, unobserved and unsupervised.”
Schools are reminded to complete a risk assessment for all working at height activities, look for alternative safe methods to carry out the task from the ground such as ‘wash & reach’ or use a qualified contractor for the work.
Learn more:
- YouTube recording of the Working at Height awareness webinar
- Further information can be found in our Working safely at height policy: HS027 Working at Height
- HSE Bulletin: City council fined after school caretaker dies
