Work at heights culture
Published: 9th Oct 2019
Leading edges, sharp edges, hot works & chemicals, UV
As a subject which is not solely found in Work at Heights, creating a ‘Safety Culture’ is one of the trickiest factors to handle. As this is a Work at Heights article we will use Fall Protection as examples.
We often find ourselves providing clients with reports of their site which indicate what seems at first, to be dis-interest from employees to wear the required safety equipment (harness and lanyard). We often find the people required to perform their duties at heights at loggerheads with the safety people on site.
It is sad when the report is shared and discussed with the safety team to hear them blaming this on the employees. The general reasons we hear is ‘They don’t care if they die’ – This is not good enough from the safety person.
We understand someone cannot be forced to wear a harness or connect safely. At the same time we fully understand that someone can be sent for training and this results in little or no change in their safety behaviour. The previously mentioned comment is the easy way out though.
Let’s think about this from a practical perspective. I am employed to change light bulbs on a site. I understand that I can change a light bulb in less than 2 minutes – If the lightbulb was right in front of me. Unfortunately lights are generally positioned high up on ceilings so this adds a challenge to the duty I have been hired to perform. I now require an entire list of legal compliance boxes to be ticked, where at the end of the day this box ticking does not assist me with getting up there safely – It just makes sure I keep the person in charge of safety off my back.
When this approach is taken we see a common occurrence. The boxes which need to be ticked were the same documents I had approved at the last 20 companies I changed bulbs for which goes hand-in-hand that the means of access is probably not really safe or followed through with properly.
I assume the person changing the bulbs has not used the same bulb for the past 20 clients because the lights are probably different – Work at Heights is no different. It must be site specific.
When we are looking to affect culture positively we find the following is extremely important.
- Certified training – The training cannot be job specific. This training needs to engage the candidate and ensure they understand the principles of all factors at play when working at heights and the different types of solutions they have at their disposal (Not just a harness and lanyard)
- There needs to be a simple system which allows the person performing their duty at height (Keep in mind their duty is not ‘Work at Heights’) to ensure they are safe. We use the ABCs of fall protection. A=Anchor Point; B = Body Support and C = Connector. In reality, if I have these three components and experience a fall, and I have selected the correct ones, I should not hit the ground.
- There must be constant reinforcement of this type of ABC system – Site posters, Toolbox talks, Safety campaigns etc.
- Safety – This is a non-negotiable. The safety of this person must be to remove their risk of Injury or fatality, or else why are we doing this?
- Efficiency – The equipment selected to perform this duty at height needs to be efficient to setup and use. ie. We spoke about a light bulb that takes 2 minutes to change. If you provide the employee with a solution that takes 10 minutes to setup and another 10 minutes to take down it is guaranteed that the employee will use it when you are looking and as soon as safety turns their head they will ‘Quickly do the job’. (This is probably the biggest factor that contributes to the Safety vs. WAH Employee conflict)
- Productivity – The final point of the system being used is that it cannot impede with the task at hand. The same as efficiency of setting up or taking down – if productivity is lost during the use of the system it will very quickly be avoided.
The above are simple ways to ensure we empower the user to make the right decision – through training they are aware that ‘Quickly do the job’ unsafely, is often the reason injuries and deaths occur at heights. They have also been provided with a site specific system which will reduce time spent setting up or using the system whilst removing the risk of falling from heights. We have found this, in general, to be the best way to get ‘buy-in’ from the user.
Changing the culture of safety is a long process but this will be the best way to start the journey.
Feel free to get in touch with your Work at Heights specialist to discuss the types of challenges we have been able to assist in changing the culture of, on sites we have worked with – They may have faced similar issues to you. . – [+27 (0)71 533 6492, Dylan@protekta.co.za]
Tags: Dylan Sutherland, Protekta
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