Posted By Ian D Jones Any one is working at height, if there is a risk of an injury as a result of a fall. If an individual fell from a roof there is a risk of injury so yes they would be deemed as working at height. Also the wearing personal protective equipment ( Harness & Lanyards) are mandatory when working on roofs so it may be worth your while doing some more research. ijones@mccarthygroup.co.uk i have lots of info on work at height, if i can be of any help please do not hesitate to contact me. Ian

Posted By MAK ahem>, the wearing of fall arrest systems is NOT mandatory for working on roofs. The system used to safeguard againt falls from height must be relevant to the task at the location, i.e given the type of roof I describe above, why would you employ fall arrest/lanyards if the parapet wall afforded a suitable level of protection on a flat roof?

Posted By Telfie Thanks for comments I have started to review our working at height procedures and have hit a brick with some of our managers. They keep quoting "short duration work" at me, therefore "no need to use edge protection" however I don’t seem to find any mention of short duration in the work at height Regs? I also can’t find a statement saying if it is short duration you are exempt from the Regs. These inspections only take minutes although I do appreciate it only takes a minute to fall. My problem is getting the right balance, and ensuring the correct procedures and protection is put in place. Telfie

Posted By Pete Longworth Ps don't forget, whatever controls you choose, if there is an accident, your company will have to justify them in court and the onus of proof will rest with the company.

Posted By CFT Telfie Based upon the information you have supplied your colleague is indeed completely incorrect. nuff said. CFT

Posted By patrick carr I would most certainly say you would be expected to carry out your inspection, with the WAHR 2005 as a regulatory framework for your task. I would not bother delving into CDM regs 2007, as all the info you require is in the WAHR 2005. REG 4. ORGANISATION AND PLANNING. work at height must be properly planned. appropriately supervised. carried out in a safe manner. REG 6. AVOIDANCE OF RISKS FROM WORK AT HEIGHT. Employers must undertake risk assessments prior to work at height. REG 7. SELECTION OF WORK EQUIPMENT. Employers shall give collective measures priority over personal protective measures.

Posted By Dave Merchant patrick - there is no place in the WAHR (or any other current UK law) where 'short duration' is defined with a time period.

Posted By Jonathan Sandler CMIOSH Gents The guidelines are quite simple. HSE never put an exact time for duration, this is down to risk assessment, but if required to carryout an investigation, then their question might be, why so long??? any more than 5 mins on a ladder use something different. Basically comes back to risk assessment.

Posted By Martin Mulholland Mr Jones, as MAK popinted out, and despite the link to the article you posted, harneses and lanyards are not mandatory. The article mentioned that these systems seemed to have been installed after the incident - this was related to the reference to "pervert the course of justice" Any control measures identified for work at height must be decided by a process of risk assessment. This is requried by WAH2005. The law comes from here and here alone - interpretations are only that. Whilst i agree that use of FAS has its palce in some situations when working at height - it is after a risk assessment that this must be chosen and - it is not without risks itself (search on these forums to see many previous posts relating to injuries associated with falling in a harness, difficulty in rescue, etc.). I would suggest that you read the specific wording of the Regs rather than rely on other information before you make your mind up about what the law is. www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si2005/20050735.htm

Posted By Telfie Thanks for your comments so far To get the message across on how serious this issue is, I have sent some interesting e-mails to management (Thanks for the Links Ian) Further to this I have instigated a review of all working at height This includes The identification of each building we inspect. The types of training our inspectors have received The type of roof to be inspected (fragile, pitched etc) The system we use to conduct the inspection, (for example using a pole system with a camera attached) depending on height As I mentioned in an earlier post the main issue is getting the right balance, and ensuring the correct procedures and protection is put in place. Through the above review I am confident this will happen Telfie