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WORLD NEWS
ENSURING HEIGHT SAFETY
Do you know who is using access
platforms at your workplace? Have
the platform operators been trained
and familiarised on the equipment
that they are using?
Falls from height remain the big-
gest killer at the workplace. Most
falls occur when people use inap-
propriate equipment or methods to
work at height.
In the European Union, the Tem-
porary Work at Height Directive
2001/45/EC has focused attention on
safe work at height. In the UK, for
example, the Work at Height Regu-
lations (2005) state that employers
are required to first analyse if any
temporary work at height is neces-
sary, and if so, to devise a safe way
of doing it.
The regulations set out a simple
hierarchy for managing and select-
ing equipment for work at height.
Duty holders must:
• Avoid work at height where they
can.
• Use work equipment or other mea-
sures to prevent falls where they
cannot avoid working at height.
• Where they cannot eliminate the
risk of a fall, use work equipment
or other measures to minimise the
distance and consequences of a
fall should one occur.
YOU NEED TO HAVE TWO
FEET AND ONE HAND ON A
STEPLADDER AT ALL TIMES
WHEN CARRYING OUT A TASK
No, this isn’t true. When you need
to have both hands free for a brief
period to do a job using a stepladder
(eg putting a box on a shelf, hanging
wallpaper, installing a smoke detec-
tor on a ceiling) you need to maintain
three points of contact at the work-
ing position. This is not just two feet
and one hand, it can be two feet and
your body (use your knees or chest
to help with stability) supported by
the stepladder. Ensure a handhold is
available to steady yourself before
and after.
WORK @ HEIGHT:
GOOD PRACTICE
The Institute for Work at Height was formed in
January 2009 being a merger of the Specialised
Access Engineering Manufacturers Association
(SAEMA) and the Rope Access and Fall Arrest
Association (RAFAA) desirous of creating safe-
ty awareness and in turn “professionalism” in
the overall Work at Height Industry. It has pro-
gressed substantially and strives to become the
unified voice for all work at height activities in
the country.
The professional body, when fully recognised
will therefore be able to ensure the standards
as agreed in industry and ratified by the rele-
vant qualifications authorities are enforced,
therefore ensuring execution of the best prac-
tice and policies and standards set by the trade
association.
One of the chambers requiring recognition is
the MEWP chamber as they are currently being
challenged by the building of acceptable and
practical training standards which will involve
linking government departments and designing
a training incidental use training standard that
is practical and supportive of job creation.
The appointment of Jean duRandt as the
new Chairman of the Mobile Elevated Work
Platform (MEWP) chamber as well as the con-
stitutional committee of the IWH for both trade
association and professional body respective-
ly, augers well for the impact the chamber will
have in promoting the principles of safety and
training for the industry.
Jean duRandt is the CEO of Eazi Access
Rental, one of the largest suppliers of MEWPs
in South Africa and therefore considers it his
duty to ensure safe working conditions and
collective learning in the industry. Eazi’s ethos
of ensuring safe, reliable and effective work at
height aligns one hundred percent with that of
the IWH. Jean also serves as the Chairman
of the Contractors Plant Association (CPHA),
MEWP chamber.
The existence of a separately constituted
trade association and a professional body with
fundamentally different constituents has led to
conflict as a result of the misalignment of intent
and a misunderstanding that led to both parties
failing to capitalize on the symbiotic relationship
that exists.
The committee has therefore been estab-
lished to develop a new constitution that will
amalgamate both the trade association and
professional body whilst ensuring sufficient bal-
ance of power and yielding maximum agility in
its operational structure.
“It is also imperative to ensure an adequate
representation of the practitioner throughout
the trade organization and the executive struc-
ture within the new IWH, in line with the organ-
isational values, being; Serving Transparency,
Honesty, Integrity, Inclusiveness, Empowering
and Equality. In essence the combined body
makes both entities mutually exclusive but de-
pendent. To date we delivered a well-balanced
constitution structured to deliver a viable and
aligned organisation. The draft constitution was
ratified by the combined executive committee
and should be enacted during the AGM in Au-
gust,” concluded duRandt.
INSTITUTE OF WORK AT HEIGHT APPOINTS NEW MEWP CHAIRMAN
“It is also imperative to ensure an adequate
representation of the practitioner throughout
the trade organization and the executive
structure within the new IWH, in line
with the organisational values, being;
Serving Transparency, Honesty, Integrity,
Inclusiveness, Empowering and Equality.