STONES CORNER

Accident at a workplace in UAE

Definition of safety harness

A safety harness is a form of protective equipment designed to protect a person, animal, or object from injury or damage. The harness is an attachment between a stationary and non-stationary object and is usually fabricated from rope, cable or Webbing and locking hardware.[1] Some safety harnesses are used in combination with a shock absorber, which is used to regulate deceleration when the end of the rope is reached.

One example would be bungee jumping, but not like this!!!

No Shortcut to Safety

Everyone takes a shortcut at one time or another. You cross the street between intersections instead of using the crosswalk or jump a fence instead of using the gate. But in many cases, a shortcut can involve danger.

If you have the habit of taking dangerous shortcuts, break it. At work, it can be deadly.

If you are told to go to a particular work area, your employer expects you to take the safe route, not the shorter, hazardous one. If there isn't a safe way to get where you need to go, let your supervisor know. The supervisor will see to it that you are provided a safe means of access. It’s your responsibility to avoid dangerous shortcuts and to warn against anyone else you see taking them.

Even if the job will only take a few minutes, it isn’t worth risking your safety and health for those few minutes. Wear personal protection to safeguard your body parts. Use proper, well-maintained equipment. Don’t improvise to save time. Ladders, steps, and walkways are built to insure your safety, as well as for your convenience. Use them. Don’t go from one elevation to another by climbing a column or sliding down a rope. The safest way isn’t always the shortest way, but it’s the surest way.













Work safely at height or in a confined space
Assess the risks of working at height

You must consider the specific risks posed by working at height as part of your overall health and safety risk assessment.

You'll need to look at the risk of all falls in your business and take specific precautions where it's possible for anyone to fall a distance liable to cause personal injury.

Injuries are often caused by falls from:

ladders
incomplete scaffolding
roofs and roof edges - particularly fragile roofs
gangways and catwalks
vehicles

The poor selection, use and maintenance of equipment causes falls, eg using a ladder because it's easier than erecting a tower scaffold.

Employers, the self-employed and any person who controls the work of others have a legal duty to ensure:

all work at height is properly planned
those working at height are competent or supervised
the risks of working on or near fragile surfaces are properly controlled
equipment for working at height is properly inspected and maintained

Work at height must be avoided where possible and equipment must be used to prevent or minimise the consequences of falls where working at height is the only option.

As well as the risks posed by the work at height itself, consider those caused by falling objects and by accessing the work location. For example, climbing on and off a roof or using ladders can pose significant risks.

Make sure roofs, working platforms and walkways are safe

It's vital to ensure the safety of existing structures such as roofs and working platforms.

Platforms and existing structures must be stable. They must support the weight of workers who need to use them and any equipment or materials they may need.

Platforms must be footed on firm ground or on a stable structure to prevent them from moving. For example, scaffolding should generally be tied to an existing structure.

You should use duckboards over fragile roofs and other fragile surfaces. You must erect guard rails, boards or other barriers such as toe boards to prevent anyone from falling off the edge of platforms or roofs, or through holes or openings in the platform floor.

There are many types of platform, including:

tower and general scaffolding
mobile and suspended equipment
mobile elevating work platforms

The type of equipment you use will depend on the:

working conditions and duration of work
number of users
risks of erecting the structure

Your risk assessment should help you choose the most suitable type of equipment to use.

You need to ensure that all equipment is well maintained and checked regularly. All equipment should be removed from the platform at the end of the working day, and any power supplies should be switched off.