SAFE WORK at HEIGHT Chris Bilby Station Manager Operational Planning Group Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service

Background (prior to 2005) Existing FRS guidance –Fire Service Manual : Rope Working –Guidance and Compliance Framework : Rope Working EC Directive 2001/45/EC – Temporary Work at Height Code of Practice for the Use of Rope Access Methods for Industrial Purposes (Draft BS) Various equipment standards (EN)

What’s Changed? The Work at Height Regulations 2005 CFOA Interim guidance Review of existing Manuals & Guidance ACWAHT Syllabus BS : Code of practice for the delivery of training and education for work at height and rescue

Work at Height All work activities where there is a possibility that a fall likely to result in personal injury could occur Access to and exit from a place of work. Includes all work (& training) where there is a risk of falling e.g; –using a ladder or aerial appliance; –working on the roof of a vehicle; –rope rescue work (e.g cliffs, tower cranes etc); –Some confined spaces; –fire fighting and rescues on embankments, docks and quays –offshore fire fighting and rescue; –climbing fixed structures; –working close to an excavation area where someone could fall; –working near a fragile surface; –vehicle and property maintenance

Corporate Considerations IRMP Regulation 4: Organisation & Planning –WAH should be planned, supervised and carried out in a manner which is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe. Planning for emergencies is included Regulation 5: Competence –All people involved in WAH should be competent, or if being trained, be properly supervised by a competent person –A competent person understands their responsibilities under these Regulations and can demonstrate sufficient training, knowledge, actual experience, and (delegated) authority to enable them to –Understand any potential hazards related to the work (or equipment) under consideration;

Corporate Actions Training –Specific training programmes must be provided for personnel expected to work at height. –Each FRS will need to determine the boundary between general or core skills applicable to all personnel and the more technical skill required of staff who undertake specialist duties. –Realistic! Live Casualties –Training at height must be avoided unless essential to the outcomes required. –Any exposure to risk is essential to achieve clear and established learning outcomes. –Live casualties are used when casualty care is the prime objective of the training session. –Live casualties are provided with appropriate PPE, including a separate safety system as appropriate.

Access Techniques Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWPs) Working platforms Ladders Ropes, harnesses and associated equipment

Systems of Work in the FRS Work restraint Fall arrest Work positioning

But what about Risk?? There are varying elements, terms or contexts that can be added to the generic term risk, including; –Risk Assessment –Risk Awareness –Risk Perception –Risk Appetite –Risk Averse Generic/Dynamic Corporate liability/Public expectation Reasonable foreseeable!

Risk Assessment Guidance to the FRS Firefighter Kevin Williams; –‘Rescues like that don't happen every week, but like every firefighter when you are put in that position you don't hesitate to get involved. After all, we rescue people, as that is what we are paid to do!’ Dynamic Management of Risk at Operational Incidents –‘We may risk our lives a lot, in a highly calculated manner, to protect saveable lives’ Fire Service Manual on Incident Command (1 st Edition) –‘Firefighters will take some risks to save saveable lives’ Fire Service Manual on Incident Command (3 rd Edition) –In a highly calculated way, firefighters; ‘will take some risk to save saveable lives’

Realistic soutions National Safe Work at Height Group CFOA Forum Fire & Rescue Service Manual, Volume 2, Fire Service Operations, Safe Work at Height Time critical rescues Task & Finish Group Fire Service Circular –Guidance to help ‘risk perception’ –Guidance on ‘good practice’ techniques

Rescue From Height

Any Questions?

Chris Bilby Station Manager Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service