Department of Labour Health and Safety Position Paper

Issued 21st December 2006 v2

Purpose

This document sets out the Department of Labour's position on the application of the hierarchy of controls in the HSE Act to situations with the potential for a fall from height. It is primarily focussed on work in the construction sector but the principles apply to working at heights in any workplace. In particular it sets out our position as to the circumstances under which a fall arrest system may be considered a suitable solution to a work at height risk.

Background

The Department issued guidance to its inspectors regarding its view of a benchmark standard of training for persons designing, installing and using fall arrest systems. This is based on NZQA unit standard 15757. It received feedback that the guidance was misinterpreted by some sections of the construction industry to mean that working at heights required the provision of fall arrest systems regardless of whether it was reasonable to have considered and implemented alternatives or that anyone working at height had to be trained to this standard.

Department's Position

A distinction is often made between fall heights greater than 3 metres and those lower than 3 metres. In fact more injuries occur from low falls less than 3 metres than high. The following principles should be adhered to no matter what the fall height is.

The Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 sets out the performance required of duty holders. Section 6 states that "Every employer shall take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of employees while at work"

For employers Section 8 - 10 of the Act sets out a hierarchy of duties to be considered in sequence. This is the "Eliminate, Isolate, Minimise" process.

Section 17 duties for self-employed persons and Section 18 duties for principals are broad but the Department believes that the same process of eliminate, isolate and minimise is required by the "all practicable steps" test.

Where work may expose persons to the hazard of a fall from height duty holders should:

1. Consider whether the job can be done without exposing persons to the hazard (eliminate). This can be often best achieved by considering such elimination at the design, construction planning and tendering stages. The use of remote release shackles during pre-cast panel erection is a good example of hazard elimination.
2. If elimination is not practicable then steps should be taken to isolate people from the hazard. Safe working platforms, guardrail systems, work positioning systems, etc are often used to isolate persons from the hazard.
3. If neither 1 nor 2 are practicable then steps should be taken to minimise the likelihood of harm resulting. This means considering the use personal protective equipment, safety nets, airbags, fall arrest systems, etc.

The Department of Labour will never recommend minimisation as the first option. Many organisations have shown that with adequate planning, co-operation between parties and effective design it is possible to eliminate or significantly reduce working at height in the first place.

At each decision point the test to be applied is practicability not just cost.

Regulation 21 of the Health and Safety in Employment Act Regulations 1995

This Regulation is the source of the often-quoted "3 metre rule". It is often mistakenly believed that no further action is needed where a person faces a fall of less than 3 metres. That belief is wrong and ignores the over-arching duties in the Act set out above.

The Regulation means that if a person is exposed to a fall of greater than 3 metres a system has to be put in place to prevent a person falling.

Falls from less than three metres often result in serious harm. The HSE Act requires that 'all practicable steps' be taken to prevent such harm. In essence, Regulation 21 merely reinforces the requirement for a means of preventing a fall at height greater than three metres.

Fall Arrest Systems

Fall arrest systems should only be considered when all other safer options have been excluded. Considerable care and attention is required for fall arrest systems to be effective. They are not a cheap or easy option. Fall arrest does not protect persons from falling; rather it stops them hitting the ground. Injury may still result and there are potentially fatal risks arising from suspension trauma if someone suspended in a harness after a fall is not rescued promptly. A minimum clear distance of at least 6.55 metres is usually required below the anchor point for a fall arrest system to properly deploy (this when the anchor point is above the person).

Specialised skills are required to plan, install and operate a fall arrest system correctly. As such those involved need specialised training and experience The Department's position is that NZQA 15757 or equivalent or better is the benchmark against which to assess the knowledge requirements. Other types of "work at height" training will enable informed decisions to be made around the hierarchy of control measures set out above, but are unlikely to go into sufficient detail in relation to the specific issues surrounding fall arrest systems.

Information

Further information of on how to prevent falls from height can be obtained from the Department of Labour at www.dol.govt.nz and SiteSafe at www.sitesafe.co.nz.