Working at Height Safety

In this blog we will give you knowledge about how to do work at height safely this topic is very important because every year  a large number fatalities and injuries occur because of not following work at height safety rules. These safety rules are not only for workers but everybody must know these rules before going to do work at height  in home or office.
in this Article we will discuss about all the important equipments which we often use in work at height  we will discuss about following equipments one by one i hope you will learn a lot from this article and will implement these rules in your daily life.


1. Ladder Safety
2. Scaffolding
3. Mobile Scaffolding
4.Elevating work plateforms
5.Safety Harness

How to use ladder safely

When using a ladder you should 

• Always face towards the ladder while climbing up or down 
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• Only move up or down the ladder one rung at a time
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• Always keep three point contact
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• Keep your body centered within the ladder stiles
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• Climb down from the ladder if you need to reposition it. 

At workplace workers normally use scaffolding for work at heigt. scaffold  is temporary work plateforms which is used to perform certain task with ease and safety. The first thing in using scaffold is Scaffold Erection. Only competent scaffolders should erect the scaffold. After completion competent Scaffolding inspector or supervisor inspect the scaffold and when the approve then workers are  allowed to use it. 

Scaffold Erection.

Fall protection

for scaffold construction visit our blog for detail knowledg

if a person is going to work above 6 feet or 1.8 meter  should protect himself by means of guardrail systems or personal fall arrest systems

Guardrail system

Guardrail system shall be able to withstand a force of at least 90kg. (200 lbs.) It consists

1.Toprails - top edge height of toprails shall not be less than 0.95 m. (38 “) and not more than 1.15 m.  (45”) above the walking/working surface of a platform

2.Midrails – installed approximately halfway between the walking/working surface and toprail

3.Toeboards – shall have no more than 6 mm. (1/4”) gap above the working surface and should withstand a force of at least 23 kg (50 lbs).

4.Uprights – shall not be spaced more than 2.7 m. (9 ft.) apart

scaffolding ladder should have 75 degree angle with ground or 4:1 ( 4 meter vertical then 1 meter horizantal) and 0.9 meter or 3 rungs  should be above the platform

Scaffold Tagging system

Only competent scaffolding supervisor, inspector is allowed to use scaffolding tag

in practical environment nowadays three types of tag's are used  RED , Green and Yellow

if scaffold is underconstruction or incomplete inspector put RED Tag near the ladder of scaffold.
Red tag means nobody allowed except scaffolder to use.

if scaffolding is complete and safe inspector put Green Tag near the ladder. Green tag means it is safe and everybody can use it.

if scaffolding is complete safe and height above 1.8m we use yellow tag. Yellow tag means workers can work only if they wear safety harness .

safety tips 

• Always keep walkways free of tools and materials.
• keep plateforms free of grease , slippery items, and mud
• keep in mind the safe working load of scaffold
•  climb from one level to other using ladder
• use a crane , hoist or winch to carry materials up or down from scaffold
• Barricade area under the work 

You should never 

• Exceed the safe working load of plateform
• stand on the guardrail system
• work on incomplete scaffolding
• throw tools from the top 

Mobile tower Scaffold

When working from a mobile tower scaffold make sure 

• It is no higher htan three times the base width
• Outriggers (in the image no outriggers attached) are fitted 
• Caster breaks are locked on
• During movement nobody should be above
• Only use on level surfaces

Elevating work platforms

• Barricade under and around the elevating work platform
• Keep all tools in bag or bucket
• enter and exit only through gate
• keep basket gate closed and locked while working 
• wear full body harness ( in picture no harness) and anchor inside the basket

Power line and stability Hazards

maintain a distance of :

Two metres from any electrical distribution wires on poles and

Six metres from any electrical Transmission lines.

Never exceed the SWL (safe working load) of the basket

200kg for fiber glass basket

250kg for steel basket

keep safe distance from excavation (1.5 time depth of excavation )

Safety Harness

Stops the falls and spreads the impact shock over a large area of the body and 

allows a fall to be stopped or arressted without causing body injury

the maximum free fall distance is 1.8 metre

the safety harness must be attached to 

a lanyard (length 2 meter) with a built in shock absorber or self retracting lanyard

the anchorage point must be strong to support the body weight 

before use must check

the harnsess for any signs of wear or damage.

the lanyard is firmly attached to harness

make sure anchor point is positioned above where you are working

never use damaged equipment.

I hope you learnt a lot of new things from this article if you have any question in mind related to this article feel free to comment and we shall be glad to answer your question this blog is actually for those who want to learn something new daily .keep in touch ...

Work at height