Working at heights
Falling from a height is a serious injury risk when repairing, maintaining or gaining access to silos, windmills, towers, sheds/barns, mezzanine floors and other structures.
It is important when you are working high above the ground to think about some of the risks including:
- height of the work
- presence of guard rails or other edge protection
- roof pitch and surface conditions
- weather conditions like wind strength
- complexity of task
To prevent anyone falling, the following controls should be put in place:
- Consider alternatives to working at height e.g. fill feed silos pneumatically from the feed supply truck.
- Erect edge protection or guard rails.
- Place a fall protection cover over an opening.
- Provide a travel restraint or fall-arrest harness system.
- Provide an industrial safety net.
Ladders should not be used when working at a height. Advice provided for the safe use of ladders when undertaking construction work in PT 20 Div 3 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 should be followed.
The type of work that can be safely performed on a ladder is limited.
Scaffolding or an elevating work platform provides a much safer way to work at heights.
More information about working safely at heights is provided in Section 8 Part H of the Rural Plant Industry Code of Practice 2004.
Other languages