National OSH PROGRAMME-BASED ENGAGEMENT (ProBE)

Technical Advisory For Falling From Height

For the past 10 years, falling from height (FFH) has been the number one cause of death at workplaces in Singapore. It has accounted for 34% of all fatal accidents between 2002 and 2005. In the construction as well as the shipbuilding and ship repairing industries, persons falling from height has accounted for 51% and 28% of fatal accidents respectively. Additionally, many more are seriously injured every year. To achieve our goal of halving our fatality rate in the next 10 years, we need to address this prime contributor to workplace fatalities in Singapore.
34% Falls from Height 26% Struck by Falling Object 11% Step on, Strike Against, Strike by Object Top 3 types of Fatal Industrial Accidents for all Industries for Period 2002-2005.

Key Requirements on the Measures to Prevent Falls

Falls from height can be prevented by being aware of the Dos ( ) and Donts ( ) of working at heights. Outlined below are some critical measures that can help make working at heights safe. Provide an effective barrier for every open side or opening to prevent falls.

Provide barriers at edges of mezzanine floors to prevent falls. Place signs at barriers that may be opened for access, to ensure that it is closed after use.

Provide safe means of access and egress with secure handhold and foothold when working at height.

Provide stairs and ladders to enable access from one level of any scaffold to another.

Provide and maintain a lower rail or other effective means to guard open sides of staircases.

Provide safety harnesses, belts or lifelines that must be used correctly. These must be of good construction, without any indication of wear, damage or deterioration.

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Provide and use correctly other suitable equipments such as safety harnesses or safety belts, if barricades cannot be provided.

Place barricades around all open sides to prevent falls.

Ensure that suitable means of anchorage are provided when using safety harness.

Provide only ladders and step-ladders that are of good construction, sound material and adequate strength for the purpose. Ensure that they are securely fixed so that it can neither move from its top nor from its bottom points of rest.

Ensure that all ladders are securely fixed, or held by a person, to prevent them from slipping.

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Common Contraventions and Case Studies

CASE STUDY (Retail Industry): Worker fell to his death while working on an A-frame ladder.
A fitter climbed an A-frame ladder to secure a plastic sheet onto the wall to cover some merchandise before dismantling an air conditioner unit. On his way down, his right leg slipped and became entangled on the 3rd step of the A-frame ladder. He fell backward together with the ladder onto the ground.

CASE STUDY (Construction Industry): Worker fell to his death through an open side of a building under construction

Debris, posing a tripping hazard, accumulated near edge of the 7th storey opening, from where worker fell to death

A worker died when he fell through an open side on the 7th storey of a building, which was under construction.
Renactment showing where worker was standing on the ladder when he fell.

Investigations revealed: The A-frame ladder was in good condition and the bracings were intact. No one held onto the ladder while the deceased was climbing up and down it. The worker was not trained in the safe use of a ladder and was not wearing non-slip shoes. Lapses: No risk assessment was carried out prior to commencement of work No Safe Work Procedure was in place Lack of awareness of hazards associated with working on ladders

Investigations revealed: The open sides of the building, from the 2nd to 8th storey, were not barricaded to prevent persons falling. Workers used these open sides to throw debris from the building as no chute was provided for the safe disposal of debris. Debris, which may pose a tripping hazard, was found accumulated near the edge of the 7th storey. Lapses: No risk assessment was carried out Failure to barricade open sides Lack of safe working practices and hazard analysis Poor housekeeping No safe access and egress No provision for proper waste disposal Failure to provide and ensure correct use of safety harness or restraint

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CASE STUDY (Construction Industry): Worker fell while working on a canopy

Uncovered 2.4m by 1.2m opening in canopy, through which worker fell

A worker carrying out work on the glass canopy at the entrance of a building fell through an opening in the canopy and landed on the driveway about 7m below. Investigations revealed: One of the glass panels of the canopy was damaged and removed, but the opening was not covered or barricaded. The size of the opening was about 2.4m by 1.2m. There was no Safe Work Procedure for work on the glass canopy. There was no lifeline provided for the workers. The workers were provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) i.e. safety shoes, safety helmets and safety belts. However, they were not supervised to ensure that they used their PPE at all times during work, and were only wearing their safety shoes. The workers were aware of the opening, as they were involved in the removal of the glass panel. Lapses: No risk assessment was carried out Failure to barricade opening Lack of safe working practices and hazard analysis No safety training for working at heights No supervision

The platform erection work began immediately after erection of the tower scaffold was completed. For the platform erection work, one group of workers would lay the metal decking while another group of workers would secure the metal decking with mushroom clamps. The deceaseds group was in charge of laying the metal decking. The deceaseds group was two bays ahead of the other group who did the securing of metal decking, i.e. the progress of laying the metal decking was faster than securing it. The deceaseds group, particularly the deceased, had to move about on the platform to lay the metal decking. The platform where the deceased stood to carry out their work was not secured at the time of the fall. The scaffolding company had a safe work procedure for scaffold erection work. The safe work procedure, however, did not provide detailed, i.e. step-by-step instructions on platform erection work.

CASE STUDY (Construction Industry): A worker fell while erecting working platforms on a completed tower scaffold with 2 co-workers.
Investigations revealed: The deceased fell 30m to his death. There was a safety harness around his waist. However, the hook of the harness was attached to its web. Lapses: No risk assessment was carried out Lack of safety policy, hazard analysis and safe work practices No supervision to ensure safety harnesses were worn and attached to a secured achorage point Building a safer workplace together

CASE STUDY (Construction Industry): Worker fell when formwork shoring toppled to the ground

There was only a general Safe Work Procedure with a design for hanging scaffolds, not a specific Safe Work Procedure with a design for the erection of a hanging scaffold at a curved surface. The fall arrestor provided to the deceased was too small for the shackle, thus he secured his fall arrestor to the metal railing using a wire rope instead. His co-worker, who had secured the fall arrestor using a shackle, was saved by the fall arrestor that was attached to the safety harness. The trainee scaffold supervisor only attended the Metal Scaffold Erector Course, but not the required Marine Metal Scaffolding for Supervisor Course and the Shipyard Supervisors Safety Course.

Toppled formwork shoring on which worker was on.

A 6.4m high formwork shoring was to be relocated using a tower crane. A worker had climbed up the formwork shoring to attach the hook of the crane to it when the formwork shoring he was on toppled to the ground. The worker fell together with the formwork shoring. Investigations revealed: The worker was not provided with any work platform or safe means of access. The formwork shoring was not temporarily tied to a fixed structure or building. It was also not provided with an outrigger to prevent it from toppling when the worker climbed up on it. Lapses: No risk assessment was carried out Failure to provide safe means of access Lack of safe working practices and hazard analysis No fall prevention systems were used

Lapses: No risk assessment was carried out Lack of safety policy, hazard analysis and safe work practices Fall arrestor provided was unsuitable and could not be used correctly The supervisor was not competent to carry out his duties

Hanging scaffold consisting of 2 bays of planks

CASE STUDY (Shipbuilding & Ship Repairing Industry): Worker fell to his death while working on ships port fender box
Two workers were erecting a hanging scaffold at the portside of a vessel when it slipped and tilted, causing one worker to fall into the sea but the other was saved by his fall arrestor which was secured to the vessels metal railing. Investigations revealed: The hanging scaffold was erected at the curved surface of the hull resulting in minimal contact between the innermost transoms of the hanging scaffold and the hull. This caused the scaffold to slip and its inner section to tilt upwards when workers were working on it.

The co-worker secured his safety harness to the fall arrestor below. When the hanging scaffold tilted, he was saved by the fall arrestor.

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Methods of Fall Prevention and Management

Risk Management
When work activities involve working at height, it is essential that risk assessments be conducted before work begins to control any fall hazards. Risk assessments consist of 3 sequential steps: Step 1: Identify the hazards. Determine what work activities need to be carried out. Identify and analyse the hazards associated with each work activity that involves someone working at height. Step 2: Evaluate all hazards identified above. Determine the possibility of someone falling or getting injured while working at height. Assess the risk levels for the hazards based on their likelihood and severity, and assess the existing risk control measures. If there is a risk that a fall may occur, safety measures need to be put in place to control the risk. The primary duty is to eliminate the risk. If this is not practicable, the risk must be reduced so far as is reasonably practicable following the hierarchy of control. Step 3: Control the risk. Based on the risk level determined in Step 2, select the risk control strategies to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. These risk controls must be effective and practicable. To control hazards and reduce risks, follow the hierarchy of control methods. It may be necessary to use more than one of these measures to reduce a risk to its lowest possible level when no single measure is sufficient on its own. The measures are: a) b) c) d) e) Elimination Substitution Engineering controls Administrative controls Personal protective equipment

Risk Controls For Work at Height

A hierarchy of risk controls for working at height should be applied as detailed below: Level 1 (most desired) Level 4 (least desired)

|____________________________________________| Level 1: Eliminate the need to work at height The most effective way to make sure that persons do not fall from height is to eliminate the need to work at height. One obvious way to do so is by relocating the task required to ground level, where it is reasonably practicable to do so. Examples of elimination include: prefabrication of roofs at ground level using pre-cast or tilt-up concrete construction instead of concrete walls constructed in situ using paint rollers with extendable handles using remote released shackles for crane lifted loads positioned at height

If eliminating the hazard is not reasonably practicable, then measures that reduce the hazard should be considered and implemented, where reasonably practicable to do so. Only where it is not reasonably practicable to use a higher order control, may you then use a control at a lower level. Level 2: Undertake the work using a passive fall prevention system Passive fall prevention systems are materials or equipment, or a combination of both, that are designed and intended to prevent a person falling. It also ensures that after the initial installation other than regular checks and maintenance, no ongoing adjustment, alteration or operation by any person, to ensure the integrity of the device to perform its function is needed. Examples of passive fall prevention systems are scaffolds, mast climbing work platform, aerial work platforms, barricades and guardrails.

In considering each step in the hierarchy of control, the following elements of what is reasonably practicable must be considered: the likelihood of a hazard or risk occurring (i.e. the probability of a person being exposed to harm) the degree of harm that would result if the hazard or risk occurred (i.e. the potential seriousness of injury or harm) what the person concerned knows, or ought reasonably to know, about the hazard or risk and any ways of eliminating or reducing that hazard or risk the availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or reduce the hazard or risk

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Scaffolds Scaffolds are a common means of providing a safe work platform for working at height. There are a wide variety of scaffolding systems available. Information on scaffolds can be found on MOM website at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/QuickLinks/Scaffold+Programme.htm

Aerial Work Platforms Aerial work platforms (AWPs) such as scissor lifts, boom lifts and cherry pickers are types of elevated work platforms used to position personnel, materials or equipment at height. The persons working on AWPs are protected by physical barricades to prevent falls. Most platforms are also fitted with a safety interlock system to prevent accidental toppling. All AWPs should only be used on a solid level surface and within the load limit. It should not be used in high wind conditions or on uneven ground.

Mast climbing work platform Mast climbing work platforms can be set up in either a singlemast or multi-mast configuration. The erection and dismantling of it must be carried out by competent persons. It should be installed, use and maintained according to the manufacturers manuals.

Barricades/Guardrail Guardrails may be used to provide effective fall protection at: the perimeters of buildings or other structures the perimeters of skylights or other fragile materials openings in floor or roof structures edges of shafts or other excavations Guardrails should: be at least 1m above the working level incorporate a mid-rail incorporate a toe board be designed to withstand its intended load.

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One such work procedure is the permit-to-work system which is used to control potentially hazardous work. It provides a systematic framework to ensure that hazardous work is allowed to commence only after the work environment and condition has been assessed by competent persons to be safe and approved by the project manager, who would have knowledge and overall control of the worksite. With such a system in place, checks will be introduced at different stages of work, and the person responsible for endorsing the permit will be personally held accountable. It is an effective way of managing entry into or work on scaffolds. Safe Working Procedures (SWPs) are systematic instructions on how work can be carried out safely. Arising from the Risk Assessment, a set of SWPs should be written for various jobs on site. The SWP would give a step by step account of how jobs are to be executed, who is in charge of these jobs, what safety precautions must be taken (based on the risk assessment made earlier) and what kind of training is necessary for the workers doing these jobs. The SWP must be communicated to everyone involved in the job so that each is aware of the role they play in it. The SWP must also be communicated to those who will be affected by the job. The permit-to-work system has to be integrated with the Safe Work Procedure so that the supervisors are made aware of the safety requirements and checks. The Safe Work Procedure and permit-to-work system must be clearly described and communicated to all workers involved in the activity. Level 4: Personal Protective Equipment A work positioning system is equipment that enables a person to be positioned and safely supported at a work location for the duration of the task being undertaken at height, e.g. a travel restraint system. Work positioning systems require a higher level of worker competency and supervision than control measures, which are higher on the hierarchy of control.

Level 3: Administrative Controls An administrative control reduces or eliminates exposure to a hazard by adherence to procedures or instruction. Administrative control - Fall hazards Administrative controls are systems of work or work procedures that help to reduce the exposure of employees to fall hazards.

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Travel restraint systems

Emergency Procedures
Emergency procedures must be put in place when work has to be performed at height. While developing these procedures, consider the different types of emergency and rescue scenarios that might arise. Use the information from your risk assessments to help you in this task. In the event of a fall, will it be necessary to retrieve the injured worker from potential fall sites? If so, is the equipment needed to perform a rescue readily available and are workers trained to perform a rescue? It is important that a worker who is suspended in a full body harness be rescued promptly. Effective emergency procedures may require one or more of the following: workers using safety harnesses do not work alone a person trained in rescue techniques is allocated to each site rescue equipment is readily available for use

Restricted travel distance

Anchorage Lifeline / Lanyard Safety Belt

The purpose of a travel restraint system is to restrict the users movement and prevents him from approaching an unprotected edge on a building or structure. Generally, the system consists of a safety belt or harness that is connected by a lanyard to a suitable anchorage point or static line. The system must be set up to prevent the wearer from reaching the edge. Fall Arrest System (FAS) Fall Arrest Systems (FAS) are to safely stop a worker falling an uncontrolled distance and reduce the impact of the fall. FASs are an assembly of interconnected components comprising a harness connected to an anchorage point or anchorage system either directly or by means of a lanyard. They can be used where workers are required to carry out their work near an unprotected edge.
Fall Arrestor Anchorage Lanyard Horizontal Lifeline Anchorage

The emergency procedures must also cover the provision of first aid. The procedures should: specify how many workers will be trained in first aid, the competencies and the necessary first aid equipment required identify the nearest hospital and medical treatment rooms establish means of contacting the emergency services promptly

Training in the Prevention of Falls

Information, instruction and training should provide your employees with the skills and knowledge they need to perform work at height safely. It should help them to understand: the fall hazards to which they are exposed the risk of injury associated with the task why control measures are needed and how to use them properly what actions to take if there is an incident

Shock-Absorber

Full Body Harness Fall Arrest and Full Body Harness System

Working at height, using any or a combination of the control systems between Levels 2 to 4, would require the operator to be properly trained to use the systems employed. The training depends on the level of operator skill required to operate or use the control measure.

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Tasks involving complex work procedures or risk control measures will probably require a comprehensive training process. Whatever level of control is used, a high level of competency must be achieved. For example, a fall arrest system (FAS) requires a high level of competency on the part of the user to ensure its proper usage. Employees who use these systems should be trained in the correct fitting, anchorage, use and maintenance of the FAS, including the nature of the fall hazard and the risks of injury associated with the tasks that they undertake when using FAS. This training should cover the risks of injury associated with an arrested fall. Where guardrails are being used, employees need to know why the guardrail system is needed and the limitations of the system. They should, for example, be instructed to avoid standing on, climbing over, or removing any part of the guardrail system. Induction training should be provided for all new workers. It is a good idea to keep a record of training to enable ongoing program evaluation and review. Information should be provided in a form that can be understood by all workers. This may include providing information in languages other than English. Remember that while training is important, it is not a substitute for effective risk control measures. Before any work at height can commence, there is a need to verify that all control measures have been put in place

Useful References:
SS 292 - Safety Nets for construction sites SS 402 Specification for Industrial Safety Belts and Harness; Part 1: General Requirements SS 402 Specification for Industrial Safety Belts and Harness; Part 2: Permanent Anchors BS7985 Use of Rope Access Methods for Industrial Purposes

Guidelines on Risk Assessment Available for download from MOM website at: http://www.mom.gov.sg/OSHD/resources/Guides/Guidelines/index.htm ProBE Technical Advisory for Scaffolds Available for download from MOM website at http://www.mom.gov.sg/QuickLinks/Scaffold+Programme.htm

Contact us:
For enquiries, please email us at mom_oshd@mom.gov.sg To report unsafe workplaces, please call the OSH hotline at: 6317 1111. To report accidents, dangerous occurrences and occupational diseases, visit: http://www.mom.gov.sg/ireport Workplace Safety and Health Act 2006, Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) Regulations, Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management) Regulations, Workplace Safety and Health (First-Aid) Regulations, and Code of Practice (CP)s are available at SNP Corporation (Legal) Ltd Legal Publications Retail Outlet 1 Kim Seng Promenade, #18-01/06 Great World City East Tower S237994 Tel: (65) 68269691 Website: http://www.snpcorp.com/webshop
Please note that the advisory note is provided for the benefit of enhancing workplace safety and health, in no way is the information to be misconstrued as implying any liability on any party. Date of publication: September 2006

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