The Ever-Present Danger
A recent court case in the UK has added yet another chapter to the story of fall injuries in the workplace.
In a report by Construction Enquirer, a Volvo worker servicing a large vehicle fell to the ground, striking his head. Although he survived the fall and the two-week induced coma, the man has been left with ongoing complications. The UK’s governing body, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the worker had scaled an inadequate step ladder, which had not been maintained or checked to ensure it suitability for use. Its anti-slip feet were worn and the ladder failed – a simple oversight on a product that not many people give much thought to.
But this seemingly insignificant piece of height access equipment caused a very expensive headache for who is known as the manufacturer of the world’s safest vehicles. Volvo was left out of pocket to the tune of over £905,900 to cover a fine and miscellaneous compulsory costs.
Falls from height in the workplace is a global problem. Businesses in Western countries tend to discount the danger presented to workers who scale low-level heights when carrying out work, while in some parts of Asia proper edge protection and adequate height access equipment on worksites is almost non-existent. But the comparative inadequacy of one does not further validate or excuse the other.
Back here in Canada, a 2015 report in OHS Canada magazine claims that more than 40,000 Canadian workers are injured every year due to falls. The causes of this are numerous, from slippery surfaces to lack of fall protection gear, but the one factor that is a constant across the world—just look up the stats from USA’s OSHA or SafeWork Australia, just to name a couple—is falls from low-level heights due to inappropriate ladders, platform steps and the like.
From aircraft maintenance facilities to maintenance depots for mining equipment, plant equipment and more, the more switched-on operators are looking for better ways to protect staff who work at height. This is not just to comply in an obligatory manner to local safety regulations; they are also finding that the proper equipment—especially if it is customised for a specific use and obstacle—saves them time and money.
For example, SafeSmart Access, a Canadian supplier and manufacturer of custom-made portable height access equipment, are seeing this every day. In their neck of the woods, they are mostly engaged with the aviation MRO (Maintenance Repair and Overhaul) industry around the Ontario and Quebec areas, as well the resources and oil and gas industries.
Tom Biggs from SafeSmart’s Oxbow branch is fielding an increasing number of enquiries from customers who are looking for an economical way of increasing worksite safety and efficiency.
“Many companies are seeing updated information from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety in regards to height safety, and they’re starting to put two and two together,” says Tom. “Thanks to the digitisation of publications such as Construction Enquirer and others, news about big financial penalties that overseas companies incur travels fast. They’re looking at their work areas and thinking, ‘that could have been us’.”
The difference that SafeSmart Access offer compared to manufacturers who make more permanently-installed structures is in the hand-portability of their products, as well as their load-bearing capabilities, adding incentive for workers who would normally find standard equipment cumbersome and take dangerous shortcuts to not use it. Add to this a team of in-house designers at SafeSmart, and any industry’s workplace can have a work platform that perfectly fits over or around an obstacle such as a helicopter, factory machinery, a military tank, you name it.
“We are getting repeat orders now for products as diverse as aircraft maintenance stands, pipe egress steps for refineries, and platform stairs for distribution warehouses,” says Tom. “Whatever you can think of, if it’s a workplace that involves humans working higher than shoulder height above hard surfaces, we’re designing ways of helping them stay up there to get the job done quickly and safely. And the last thing they want is accident-incurred fines and compensation money eating into their profits.”
