WORKING AT HEIGHT: THE HSE VIEW
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Any working at height risk assessment should include the basic questions as to how and why drivers access their vehicles. Moreover, the HSE says: "Get help from the workers who use the vehicle — they know how the job is really done, and normally have good ideas about how to make it safer and more efficient."
It adds: "In law, work at height means work in any place where a person could fall a distance likely to cause personal injury if no precautions are taken. It includes getting on and off a vehicle trailer or climbing into or out of a lorry cab.
-Although some people might not regard work below average head height as 'work at height', the law requires people to consider falls from any height where someone could be injured. In fact, most of the injuries reported to HSE resulting from falls from vehicles are from falls from BELOW head height — you don't have to fall far to land hard."
The HSE's interactive webpage has advice and practical case studies on HGV working at height risks (www.hse.gov.uk/fallsfromvehiclesiindex.htm). For more on Tinsley's Safety-GARD, visit www.tinsleyspecialproducts.comi • CM featured a special test of three fall restraint/prevention systems from Schmitz Trailers, Spanset and Romgard (CM 23 October 2008). Copies can be obtained by calling 01371 851800.