The right assessment?
Any (even short-term) usage of an aid to access is governed by a single simple principle: safety first! For this reason, we need to undertake an analysis at the correct time to establish any possible hazards that may exist.
This isn’t just a matter of common sense but is also required by legislation [see below]. They call this prescribed procedure ‘risk assessment’.
The aim is clear and straightforward: to achieve the highest possible degree of safety for staff deployed on a high level Workstation through the selection of an appropriate item of access equipment.
The responsibility for direct risk assessment lies with the employer and his senior managers. In the final analysis it is they who are most familiar with the deployment site.
At the same time, both the working materials and the nature of the activity as well as, of course, the relevant environment must be taken into consideration.
The legal principle
The regulations relating to “Working at High Levels” have been modified as a result of the EU Directive 2001/45/EG issued by the European Parliament and Council on 27th June 2001. These regulations were implemented in Germany by virtue of the Workplace Safety Regulations (BetrSichV) dated 27th September 2002. A risk assessment in accordance with § 5 of the Health & Safety at Work Act is also stipulated. In addition, the “Minimum Requirements for the Use of Working Materials in conjunction with High Level Workstations” are also covered by the regulations.
Extract from the Workplace Safety Regulations (BetrSichVI):
… if temporary works at high level work stations cannot be performed in a manner which is safe and under reasonable ergonomic conditions from an appropriate base, the most appropriate working materials must be selected to guarantee consistently safe working conditions for the duration of the period of use …. The working materials must be adapted to the type of works to be carried out and the loadings to be anticipated and permit hazard-free use …
Extract from the Health and Safety at Work Act (ArbSchG) reference “Assessment of Working Conditions”:
§ 5 Assessment of Working Conditions
- The employer must, by means of an assessment of any hazards that may arise as far as his employees are concerned in conjunction with their work, identify any occupational safety measures that may be required.
- The employer must undertake the assessment taking into account the nature of the individual tasks. Where working conditions are similar, an assessment carried out in relation to a single workstation or a single activity will suffice.
- In particular, a hazard may develop as a result of the following:
3.1 the layout and the arrangement of the workplace or the workstation,
3.2 physical, chemical and biological influences,
3.3 the design, the selection and the use of working materials, in particular of substances, machines, equipment and plant and the handling thereof,
3.4 the structuring of working and production processes, operational sequences and working hours and the way they interact,
3.5 Inadequate qualification and instruction of the employees.
