If you work on the top of buildings, up scaffolding or at the top of lamp-posts, you will need to know all the health and safety guidelines which accompany working at height.
Safety harness training is one aspect of working at height which must be covered for your own safety. As with all aspects of working life there are always guidelines or rules put in place primarily for personal protection and secondly for company insurance. However there is at present no governing body which enforces the need of safety harness training courses.
When boarding a plane, each passenger is given the opportunity to follow instructions on how to use the safety equipment available, should the need arise, we all follow the instructions given and without second thought, buckle up ready for takeoff, in theory our seatbelt on a plane is the same as a safety harness and there for our protection, we all follow the guidance given without hesitation.
However if you work at height on a daily basis, then the need for safety harness training and all aspects thereof become essential. Not only will training cover safety harnesses but how to inspect your equipment and fall arrest.
They say that equipment is only as good as the person that uses it, again knowing about your equipment and respecting why you use it could just save your life.
There are a number of companies now who recognise the need for some kind of certified training which should be compulsory, and therefore have introduced training courses which are recognised by the industry, covering all aspects of safety harness training as a days course.
A course will usually cover Legislation and regulations pertaining to working at height as well as safety harnesses, restraint and fall arrest systems, knowledge and instruction about the use and maintenance of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)
Learning about safety harnesses has to go hand in hand with a full understanding of fall arrest systems. These systems are often attached to a body harness to safeguard the user in the event of falling, arrest systems would if required prevent the user from hitting the ground.
Safety Harness training should be given to all persons who work with MEWPs (Mobile Elevated Work Platforms) such as cherry pickers, scissor lifts and vehicle mounted booms, you often see these being used by the telecommunications industry. Restraint systems can also be installed to stop a person from climbing out of a MEWP.
Health and safety regulations are there to be observed by all, this not only applies to safety harnesses but as mentioned before all types of safety equipment, one such piece of equipment would be protective headwear. On site or in places where there could be a risk of objects falling, potentially causing head injury, there is always a requirement to wear protective headwear or hard hats, so why therefore shouldn't there be, by law requirement to have enforcement on wearing safety harnesses.
Common sense above all for people who work at height, should be to learn about the safety equipment which is required, and which could potentially save their lives.
Fall arrest equipment is now on some buildings where work at height has to be done on a regular basis, being installed as standard, guard rails to either break a stumble or attach personal protective equipment (PPE) to, such as vertical fall arrest equipment or safety harnesses.
If there is no governing body to enforce such requirements, it is purely down to the company or individual to make sure that they have enough knowledge to not only work at height but be safe in doing so.
Author Resource:-
Anna Stenning takes an in depth look at how safety harness training could potentially save lives, and the regulations surrounding work at height.
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