According to the Health and Safety Executive, working at height is the biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the biggest causes of major injury.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released its 2019 annual figures for work-related fatal injuries, which shows an increase on the previous year.
The provisional annual data for work-related fatal injuries revealed that 147 workers were fatally injured between April 2018 and March 2019 (a rate of 0.45 per 100,000 workers). There has been a long-term reduction in the number of fatalities since 1981. Although 2018/19 saw an increase of 6 workplace fatalities from 2017/18, the number has remained broadly level in recent years.
As recent years figures show, the most common cause of fatal workplace Injury continues to be working at height. Due to the nature of what Working at Height involves (by definition, this is any height from which people could fall and injure themselves) a set of rules (Working at Height Regulations 2005) was developed to place a duty of care on employers and contractors to ensure that all work at height is carried out safely and appropriately.
To help companies and individuals comply with these protocols, the Working at Height Hierarchy of Controls was established, which lays out the equipment and systems which should be used:
Hierarchy of controls that applies to most OHS hazards sets out the order of control measures, running from elimination to substitution, followed by engineering, administration and finally, personal protective equipment. At J.Mac Safety Systems, we strongly believe safety in the workplace is paramount, which is why we have developed market leading products to help protect people who are Working at Height across the country.
Our MacDeck Safety Decking Platform products finds itself at the top of the pyramid. As an employer, it’s your duty to protect your staff and the hierarchy image above represents the best way to do this – eliminate the risk. The Macdeck Safety Decking Platform eliminates the risk completely, without the need to rely on fall prevention or fall arrest systems.
MacDeck will also be less costly over time, our simple system require little training to use and allows a broader spectrum of your workers to complete their task in a safe and effective manner.
“The release of workplace fatality statistics is a reminder that despite the UK’s world leading position in health and safety, we cannot become complacent as we seek to fulfil our mission in preventing injury, ill health and death at work.”
Martin Temple, HSE Chair
If you would like to hear more about our MacDeck Safety Decking Platform, or any other products from our suite of safety systems, please feel free to get in touch with a member of the team.