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Posted By AJM
I am currently in process of doing a work at height policy, I have covered everything else, but I am at the PPE part specifically i would like to know about Hard Hats and step ladders and peoples opinions.
Mainly because in the HSE pictures within their stepladders and leaning ladders guide I have downloaded from their website, some are wearing hard hats and some are not which i find strange, so which is the right way.
opinions would be helpful please.
Alan
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Posted By JEFFREY SMITH
Hard hats a must...
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Posted By Andy Walker
I specify hard hat with chin strap
Andy
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Posted By AJM
Then why do the HSE pics in their ladder guidance have people NOT wearing them.
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Posted By Paul Leadbetter
If someone is at the top of a ladder working, and there is no one above them, why do they need a hard hat?
Paul
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Posted By Gary L
it depends on the task, and how high off the floor the step ladders will take you. I wouldn't expect someone in an office to wear a helmet.
Gary
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Posted By Charley Farley-Trelawney
Is it a designated construction site covered by CDM? If not then pray educate me as to why the wearer would don a HH in a non hazardous situation.
CFT
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Posted By Salus
if an employee can be injured while carrying out their work they need PPE (last resort) , in this case a hard hat,hazards are from above and the side.(for CFT)Some clients or PC's site rules insist on hard hats at all times, this is because some employees will wear it to the scaffold and when they are on the top lift will take it off, normally conveniently forgetting to put it back on when coming off the scaffold, just makes it easier to enforce (don't you just hate that word).Straps are used in windy conditions at height or when bending down.I have found that hard hats with none or short peaks and a ratchet at the back are the best
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Posted By Mark Talbot
Don't confuse the two things.
Hard hats should be worn if there is a danger of things falling on their head, or if they might bang their head against hard objects.
There is no connection between the hard hat and the ladder / stepladder.
The reason you see a mixture is more to do with the task than the equipment.
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Posted By Mike Draper
To back up the comments made by others, I suspect that the pictures where the user is wearing a hard hat were taken on construction sites, where head protection is mandatory. In other situations the need for head protection should be assessed.
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Posted By Andy Walker
Dependant on situation if he/she does fall whats there to protect his/her head? Thats why I say hard hat and chinstrap. Like I say though it depends on where the ladder/steps are being used
Andy
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Posted By SREdwards
Hard hat and chin strap? It's not a crash helmet for the love of God!
Risk assess........
Also, why step ladders? Could you use a podium platform step?
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Posted By David Curless
Have I missed something!
What does your Risk Assessment say?
Dave
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Posted By John Holland1
I wasn't going to bother justifying this thread with a response.
But Here Here at long last the risk assessment has been mentioned
John
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Posted By AJM
In reply to Mark T where you say dont confuse hard hats with stepladders/ladders but you also say
Hard hats should be worn if there is a danger of things falling on their head, or if they might bang their head against hard objects.
Stood at the top of a leaning ladder without a helmet as the HSE pictures show surely the floor is hard and the distance he could fall is quite a way, so surely its obvious not confusing.
All I am saying why if its the HSE guide does it look conflicting. As they have people stood at the top of high leaning ladders without a helmet and people on little stepladders wearing head protection. I guess the answer has to be assessment its just the pictures threw me out a little.
Thank you for the replies though very thought provoking.
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Posted By anon1234
Hard hats are not designed to protect your head when you fall - they are to protect your heads from things falling onto you.
Your risk assessment, as others say, should determine the nedd or not for hard hats and likewise it should address the issue of falling - clearly if the activity you are doing on the ladder represents a significant likelihood that you will fall then the use of a ladder is most likely not justified for the activity.
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Posted By Jeffrey Watt
Alan
I am guessing that in one situation HH are required due to the risk of falling objects OR the risk of banging ones head when up ladder against a structure/pipe/ledge etc, cos having stepped into a low slung concrete I-beam myself it takes a few seconds to get your feet sorted which is difficult if you thump your noggin while on a ladder or steps (hence the need for protection).
The other bloke without hat has completed his risk assessment and is just about to burgle the place, he knows the occupier is in Gran Canaria for a fortnight so there is a low risk of a bop on the knapper, hence no HH. Or he could be painting a bare wall with no risk of a head collision.
Jeff
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Posted By AJM
LOL Class answer Jeff, and they say us safety chaps have had a humour by-pass, little do they know you gotta either laugh or cry in our work.
I would sooner laugh
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Posted By Jeffrey Watt
Alan
I bestow the title of CATHODE on you for your positive outlook.
Jeff
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Posted By artisdeeian
All down to Risk Assessment. The vicinty the guy is working in. Anyone above him likely to drop things etc.
Ian.
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Posted By Salus
could have put this but a practical answer seemed the best way.
The Construction (head protection) Regs.
4(2) all who have control of a site shall ensure SFAIRP that each such other person wears head protection unless there is no foreseeable risk of injury other than by falling
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Posted By Gareth Williams
In respect of your answers please consider
a large construction site with multi tasks,
8,500 workers, speaking 12 different languages.
I think you will find that the application of site
rules in respect of PPE is managed from a
different perspective than that of a
risk assessment or guidance documents.
Regards
Gareth
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Posted By Merv Newman
Gareth,
ok, large site, thousands of workers, different languages. BTDT got tee-shirt. You are in a situation where "200%+" rules are appropriate, ie simple, basic safety rules, modified by task-specific Risk Assessments. ie "100% of you will use/wear hard hats, gloves, safety boots, eye protection 100% of the time. Depending on your specific task ADDITIONAL protective equipment will be required. (fall protection, BA sets, chemical suits ....)" thus 200+
Just a, perhaps whimsical and not thread-specific, thought, but would people at, maybe, between 1m and 5m (feet above the floor) heights be better off wearing crash helmets rather than hard hats ? (5m because any higher and you'r dead anyway)
Merv. (back from the sunday flower show and lunch by the lake) (roast venison and veg. Bordeaux. No pun intended)
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Posted By SREdwards
Merv, the distance would be inconsequential if he replaces ladder with podium.....
......lunch: Caff at the Albert Dock, ham butty and chips, weak, milky coffee..............
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