The Work at Height Regulations

Many hard pressed managers in business may be feeling as if they are under a Health and Safety cosh at the moment.

In the UK we already have a comprehensive range of Health and Safety legislation. Since May of this year, the owners and tenants of non-domestic premises have been required under the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 to either remove or manage the asbestos in their buildings.

When one simply thinks of the number of factories and offices built between the war and the mid '70s and then considers that most of them will contain asbestos products of some sort, the size of the burden becomes apparent.

Add to this the likelihood of the Work at Height Regulations (WAHR) coming onto the statute books later this year and it is easy to appreciate why managers might be starting to feel a little bruised. However, it is probably a little too early to be reaching for the valium.

The HSE have gone to great pains to point out that the WAHR do no more in many areas of commerce and industry than codify "existing good practice".

It has long been recognised by the EU Commissioners that working at height is the single most hazardous industrial activity. Each year around 50 to 60 fatalities and 4,000 major injuries are caused by falls from height at work. Reducing this toll is one of the Health and Safety Commissions priority programmes.

Of course, we are mainly talking here about temporary work at height, the majority of which is undertaken on construction sites.

As an aside, it is interesting to note that the WAHR are borne out of the European Temporary Work at Height Directive. Our national interpretation of this Directive has played down the temporary aspects and has become an all embracing, goal setting regulation which applies to all types of work activity undertaken at any height and for any duration.

There is no doubt about it, employers and indeed the self employed, will need to make themselves aware of the new regulations. But in doing so they will see that, as the HSE have stated, the main thrust is the establishment through regulations of existing "good practice".

If the "good practice" is being followed, that will normally be enough to comply with the law.

The WAHR is a piece of Health and Safety legislation in the truest sense. It expounds the principals of risk assessment laid down in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.

Any employer who has taken these regulations to heart will have little difficulty in getting to grips with the requirements of the WAHR. The financial burden is likely to be relatively small and also on the plus side, the saving of life and limb will make that modest cost very worthwhile.