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markburrows  
#1 Posted : 15 February 2014 07:55:34(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
markburrows

Good Saturday Morning to everyone,
I have a tricky issue to resolve with a view to improving the safety in my shipyard. ( Overseas) We routinely stage out ship cargo tanks, rig legs and tanks etc, nearly always exceeding 2m in height and can reach as high as 70m
We use standard erection techniques, with trained competent stagers wearing suitable anchored fall arrest equipment. The staging is tied in, close boarded, handrails, toeboards etc and is approved by competent staging inspectors and tagged before use, rechecked every 24 hours also.
The dilemma comes when the general workforce descend on the staged areas to work ( weld grind paint etc). I understand if we have approved staging etc this could be deemed as suitable, however many of my 4000 employees lack basic common sense despite numerous trainng session TBTS etc and they continually climb over the rails, stand on top rails etc to reach other work areas.
My discussion with senior management is that as we know they will not stay within the rails and work safely we have a duty to take further protective measures, due to their previous behaviour it is entirely foreseeable that one of them will eventually fall off the staging by doing something stupid.
However their retort is that we have approved staging its the employees responsibility............ I am keen to introduce the policy where anyone on staging must wear a harness and fall restraint lanyard to prevent them accessing the edge of the staging thus reducing the likelihood of falling. I appreciate they can still unclip or remove the harness to climg over but what else can i do ??
Any advice is welcome please.
ExDeeps  
#2 Posted : 15 February 2014 09:31:48(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
ExDeeps

Hi,
Couple of observations from what you've posted;
If people are climbing over or standing on staging to do a job then to be honest the staging is in the wrong place. (or they don't have the right tools and/or training to use them)
Secondly, and I note your location, I have identified what I term "puppies" who exist in some form or other in most work places - intelligent, motivated but poorly educated, but not necessarily unskilled. They are usually very keen to demonstrate that they are hard working, "can do" people and the intelligence coupled with poor education leads them to go beyond what they have been told are the limits of the job, in other words they want to please the master and will take risks to garner recognition and reward. The only way to manage these "puppies" is to engage with them, many times a day, every day, encouraging, talking, showing etc. but with a work force of 4000 you have a massive task there.
Jim
Frank Hallett  
#3 Posted : 15 February 2014 10:18:53(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Frank Hallett

I have two points that arise out of your post Mark

The first has been effectively identified by exdeeps; although I would go further and have the scaffold constructed so that it accomodates foreseeable misuse as a consequence of the job requirement and add-in a more robust means of mitigation designed to minimise the misuse that you identify.

Your most serious problem arises from the failure of your management to take any responsibility for actually managing the operatives; and until you get that addrressed, you'll never genuinely change the operative behaviour as it also feeds into the other principle point identified by exdeeps.

Also, you don't identify your actual location [probably sensible] but it is very well known that differing cultures have differing approaches to individual employer and operative liability. This may actually be at the root of your problems here. The apparent lack of "common sense" coupled with the active disengagement of the Management could well stem from these often unrecognised by outsiders locally endemic issues.

I wouls consider a multi-pronged approach to this problem, but only after confirming what the real, underlying causes of this problem really are. The first, and most difficult stage will be to convince the Management that it's in their own interests to get involved and start changing their own ways of viewing this problem.

Frank Hallett
RCN  
#4 Posted : 15 February 2014 11:04:50(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
RCN

markburrows wrote:
Good Saturday Morning to everyone,
I am keen to introduce the policy where anyone on staging must wear a harness and fall restraint lanyard to prevent them accessing the edge of the staging thus reducing the likelihood of falling. I appreciate they can still unclip or remove the harness to climg over but what else can i do ??
Any advice is welcome please.


I agree with the above comments. Poor management is your key issue.
Another is behavioral culture.

A few years back I was in a similar situation, although I was blessed with management support, my issue was the "mans world, bravado, just crack on culture, work hard play harder" attitudes of the labourers.

Sadly, when the attitude of the management is such as your managers, not only is your job to protect people but also to cover your own backside! (indirectly probably protecting the management who are not helping you!).

I would suspect that the management stubbornly believe they have done what is reasonably practicable and will not re-engineer the platform / staging any further due to cost (shortsighted) and no matter how loud you scream they will turn a deaf ear probably arguing "what is reasonably practicable!). As you have highlighted, if there is a real risk of a fall then the "clip on" with a fall restraint system really should be pushed hard as the minimum control.

Surely, the good practice by the installers is recognized by the management? This perhaps could support any argument to a fall restraint / arrest system?

Have you done any maths, the cost of fall restraint purchase and continuous monitoring versus a more suitable access system? Figures can win the bean counters over.

Lets go back to basics:

ERICPD

Eliminate - Cant happen, access needed
Reduce - Hand railed, staged platforms
Isolate - Limited to only necessary access personal?
Control - TBT / Training / Entry procedures / entry register?
PPE - Fall restraint (the gaping hole you have recognized)
Discipline - The last resort and one I try to avoid at all - but hey, if you have to discipline somebody then you do, better than letting them becoming a statistic.

One other thing, you say painting, welding, grinding etc. then assuming you manage to implement the fall from height equipment then you should have a robust, strict inspection regime for the inspection of the equipment. EN365 states twelve monthly, INDG367 recommends 3 monthly in arduous conditions or interim inspections as required - I spent a lot of time making sure our guys inspect and record the inspection record before each task - it was a year long battle but now they do it second nature.

A massive task, but to eat an elephant you start one chunk at a time! Good luck.
markburrows  
#5 Posted : 17 February 2014 04:13:02(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
markburrows

Good Morning,

Thanks for the comments and PMs, Its "reassuring" to hear i wasnt barking uo the wrong tree or staging tower in this case ! Time to present a very well reasoned and illustrated discussion to the senior team......... more luck needed I think !

Mark
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