Materials handling when working at height

Mark Adams, managing director of Transdek UK, offers the following advice on compliance with the new Work at Height Regulations in Great Britain.

The Work at Height Regulations are the latest health and safety legislation to affect employers in the UK.

And although, on the face of it, working at height might not seem an issue for many materials handling operations, in fact these new Regulations have very wide application and certainly affect the way many loads are handled.

Previous legislation in relation to working at height only applied to two metres or more above the ground in the construction industry.

The new legislation covers any work in any industry taking place at any height - a change that means all loading bays and delivery vehicles are affected.

Although many people responsible for materials handling will not have welcomed the extra legislation, it is understandable why it has been introduced.

Well over 200 people are killed at work every year, and around one-third of them die as a result of falls from height.

Another 4000 are seriously injured in falls.

Apart from the tragic consequences for the victims and their families, there are often financial effects for the employer.

The Work at Height Regulations (WAHR), which came into effect in April this year (2005), incorporate four principles that employers have to follow.

They must try to avoid the risk occurring in the first place by finding different ways of working, whenever possible.

If working at height is unavoidable, measures must be taken to prevent falls taking place and, if they do occur, to reduce the consequences.

The fourth principle requires employers to prefer collective protection, such as guard-rails, rather than personal protection, such as safety harnesses.

When staff have to work above the ground, their employers have to make sure the work is planned, supervised and carried out in a safe manner.

These rules effectively outlaw many of the practices that have been used to load and unload vehicles in the past, particularly at premises without purpose-built loading docks.

Stacking pallets built at the rear of a trailer to create a working area and 'pallet-riding' are just two of the many common practices that are no longer legal.

Transdek UK is at the forefront of efforts to provide properly designed and easily installed equipment to enable employers to comply with the new legislation.

Equipment now available ranges from simple working platforms that provide a safe area behind vehicles for handling pallets or loose goods, to more sophisticated dock lifts that raise and lower loads between vehicle and ground.

Whatever the design, in order to fully meet the new legislation the equipment should have surrounding guard-rails, chains and other appropriate features to ensure the safety of staff, whether they are on the platform or on the ground beside it.

While safety is of paramount importance, companies are becoming increasingly aware of the cost-savings that this type of equipment can bring in certain situations.

For example, vehicle turnaround times can be speeded up considerably by using dedicated on-site lifts instead of tail-lifts, or by loading with powered pallet trucks (PPTs) instead of conventional manual trucks.

Already a number of large retailers are using this sort of equipment at their premises because of the convenience and flexibility they provide.

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