The Occupational Health and Safety (Prevention of Falls) Regulations 2003 require employers to implement the most effective fall prevention measures reasonably practicable when employees are working at height.

Given the number of questions received in relation to Australian Standards AS/NZS 5532 and AS/NZS 1891.4 and the Work Health and Safety legislation SafeWork NSW has published a fact sheet explaining their expectations.

Working up high is dangerous. Falling from any height can lead to death or long-term injuries.

Over the past three years more than 13,000 workers were injured after falling from a height at NSW workplaces. Nineteen died and more than 200 were permanently disabled.

These incidents largely happen in the construction, manufacturing, telecommunications, transport, agriculture and forestry industries.

An Illinois contractor, who Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says has willfully disregarded worker safety laws for years, faces US$89,100 in new penalties.

David Crawford was injured working as a builder when a roof rafter he was walking across gave way. He one of the Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Week ambassadors raising awareness of spinal cord injury. His work with SCIA’s Teamsafe program sees him travelling to worksites across the country to prevent others having an accident like his own.

Guide To LINQ Fall Arrest Systems by the man who engineered the range, Stephen Sugden.

Stephen Sugden throws himself off a ladder to demonstrate the forces applied to the body during a fall from height.

He also discusses how to safely fit a harness and how different harness designs work.

Unsafe conduct, but BHP worker harshly dismissed

The Fair Work Commission has ruled the dismissal of a mine worker was harsh, despite his failure to acknowledge unsafe conduct.

Eliminate the Risk

Avoid working at height where possible or locate plant and equipment in safe locations where there’s no risk of a fall. After all, if you’re not at height, gravity has much less pull.

Guard the Hazard

When working at height is essential, ensure that workers aren’t exposed to unnecessary risks by providing a parapet or guardrail to eliminate fall hazards.

Protect the Worker

If it’s not possible to eliminate the risk of falling, use the appropriate fall protection system to help minimize the consequences of a fall. This is achievable through either a fall arrest or fall restraint system.

Tradie’s death referred to NT Worksafe. A much-loved Darwin tradie, who fell to his death on February 3 2016 was a "LARRIKIN" rigger known as a stickler for safety fell more than 60m to his death in front of his mates after climbing a Telstra tower without a harness on, a coronial inquest has heard.

Mr Kyle-Little, who was working for a Telstra subcontractor, fell after climbing back up the tower without a harness to retrieve tools left behind over lunch.

With Standards constantly changing and with training & maintenance requirements increasing each year, many organisations go into reactive mode with regards to managing their working at heights risk and PPE. Instead of simply "ticking the box" just to meet the minimum compliance requirements, we need to look more effective ways to manage the changing risks of our workplaces and ensure our PPE meets these needs. When we do this, we discover ways to remove the layers of complexity from equipment application and selection, make it more simple to train our team and maintain their skills, ensure what we specify is fit for purpose and all while comply with any Regulatory requirements we face.

HEIGHTECH can help. By working with us, you can design a comprehensive and fit-for-purpose fall protection plan that stays abreast of changes in Standards and removes the complexity of product selection, with the core focus of keeping your workers safe.