Just to clarify. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 (came into force on 6 April 2005), apply to
all work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause personal injury.
They place duties on employers (in this case Virgin Media.) the self employed, and any person that controls the work of others (for example facilities managers or building owners who may contract others to work at height) -
As part of the Regulations, duty holders must ensure:
All work at height is properly planned and organised,
Those involved in work at height are competent,
The risks from work at height are assessed and appropriate work equipment is selected and used;
The risks from fragile surfaces are properly controlled; and equipment for work at height is properly inspected and maintained. There is a simple hierarchy for managing and selecting equipment for work at height. Duty holders must:
Avoid work at height where they can,
Use work equipment or other measures to prevent falls where they cannot avoid working at height and where they cannot eliminate the risk of a fall, use work equipment or other measures to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall should one occur.
The Regulations include schedules giving requirements for existing places of work and means of access for work at height, collective fall prevention (eg guardrails and working platforms), collective fall arrest (eg nets, airbags etc), personal fall protection (e.g work restraints, fall arrest and rope access) and ladders.
Falls from height remain the most common kind of accident causing fatal injuries and according to HSE statistics, Latest figures show that 45 people died from a fall from height at work in 2006/07 (48 for 2005/06).
Taking into account the above. The figures reflect the effect that the introduction of the legislation has had upon the industry. Before this, the figures where (on average) much higher.
Under the above circumstances, you cannot (really) blame the installer as he has more to lose than you - potentially his life.
Si thee
