Risk Management Strategies for Working from Heights

The report assesses the importance of managing risks in the workplace, particularly in construction companies where workers often face hazards such as falls from heights. The study utilizes various resources, including books and journals, as well as online materials, to analyze the impact of working from heights on safety and provide solutions for mitigation.

RISK MANAGEMENT
&
SAFETY TECHNOLOGY
ASSESSMENT 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................5
Hazardous work activity .............................................................................................................5
Selecting Risk assessment and Risk matrix.................................................................................5
Preliminary Risk assessment .......................................................................................................6
Detailed Risk Assessment............................................................................................................7
Safety Technology.......................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Risk management is the process of identifying the risk in the organization which assist in
controlling various problems arising at the workplace. In the present assignment it will include
the information about hazardous work activity and risk assessment tool suitable for the work
activity. Moreover, it will include the risk assessment using the tool. Also it will include the
safety technology which require to implemented at the workplace. Furthermore, it will include
recommendation on control measures which will focus on suitable safety technology to reduce
the risk identified at work activity. It will include discussion of risk matrix. It is increase risk and
assist management for help in decision making. This matrix is used in risk assessment.
MAIN BODY
Hazardous work activity
There are various work activity which are hazardous and affect the health and leads to
accidents at the workplace. The performance of task working at height. Identifying the hazards
refers to the things which may cause injury or harm to the health of person working that that
place. The work activity which is identified is working at height which is very risky and can lead
to various health problems to the person working at that place (Jarvie-Eggart, 2015). The person
working at height can have various health problems due to accidents. It is required to identify the
hazardous activity which is related to the work on the basis of which the risk associated with the
activity is identified and the control and safety measures can be taken by the organization for
protecting the health of the workers by proving them safe work environment (Smith &
et.al.,2016 ).
Selecting Risk assessment and Risk matrix
Risk assessment tool assist in identifying the activities which may cause harm to the
people on the basis of which the precaution can be taken to control those risk at the work
activity. The risk assessment tool such as job safety analysis can help in identifying the
hazardous activity which are related to the work to help in taking the safety measures in advance
to control those risk (Simpson & Horberry, 2018). There are various hazards which can take
place and can be identified through risk assessment such as impact of falling material , hand grip,
the slipperiness, the slope of work surface, fall due to phobia from height. Moreover, there are
various hazards such as electric shock , weather conditions , ladders etc (Flin &

O'Connor,2017). the risk matrix assist in identifying the level of risk which provide
understanding to take precautions on the basis of risk level identifying due to the hazard.
Risk Matrix of working at height
RISK HIGH MEDIUM LOW
Condition of the work
surface
Weather conditions
Manual handling
Electrical wires
Fall area obstacles
Fall due to ladder
Preliminary Risk assessment
RISK TYPE RISK INVOLVED MEASURES
Condition of the
work surface
Safety hazard It is related to unsafe
working conditions
and the people with
this hazard can lead
to fatalities of
fractures
The management can
ensure in advance and
check place. the
condition of work
surface to reduce the
harmful effect on the
heath of people
working at t
Weather conditions Physical hazards It can lead to
temperature
extremes. Moreover,
can unbalance the
people working and
fall from the height
By avoiding working
in bad weather
conditions can helps
in controlling this
types pf hazards and
can provide the

(Bahr, 2018 ). people with same
work environment.
Electric wires Safety hazard It can lead to death
of the people working
at the place and can
also lead to mental
health problems
which will affect the
health of the person
working at the place.
It is required that
before providing
work to the people
the working
conditions and
electric wires must be
checked properly to
control these risk.
Fall due to ladder Safety risk It may cause death or
multiple fracture to
the person affected
due to fall from the
ladder.
By avoiding working
at heights can assist
in reducing the risk
and hazards and
working from the
existing place
Unprotected edges Safety risk It led to fall of the
people from the
height if the edges
where the people are
working is open
It can be protected or
controlled by
providing guardrails,
fences, toe boards etc
which will prevent
from falling.
The hazards can be controlled by providing the safe work environment to the workers
working such as by providing them access to safe walkway so the risk of fall are reduced
(Louche & Idowu, 2017). Moreover, enclosing risk areas with the edge protection , installing
handrails and enclosing the by covering the floor penetration.
Detailed Risk Assessment
As per the Ong & et.al., (2018) Working at height is very risky and it is very dangerous
for the workers who are working in the working place. Construction industry has one of the

highest accident and fatality rates among other major industries, with more than 60000 fatal
accident worldwide each year. The average percent of accident from falling from heights are
about 12 percent (Fall From Height Fatalities, 2017). Falling from height is one of the leading
causes of fatalities as well as injuries in construction. There are various types of risk which are
involved in working at heights which are condition of the work surface, weather conditions,
manual handling, electrical wires, fall area obstacles and fall due to ladder (Average Number of
accidents in Australia from working at heights, 2018). In Australia there are 63,230 serious
injuries were happen in which accident from falling from heights are on top i.e. 17,660.
Fang & et.al., (2018) stressed on the condition of work surface is very risky for the labour
who are working on the heights as if the surface area is not perfect, if the surface area is not
perfect than the risk is very high and there are many chances of happening of accident from
working at heights. The best way to overcome this condition is that construction sites could use
mobile platform which gives versatility and safety of workers. Little, (2017) argued that,
weather condition is the major risk which could result in happening of accident working at
height. A person who are working on roof or on building with hanging situation, it might happen
that in season of spring, storms, worker might loss there balance and fall. Further, trying to save
time by reducing the number of bolts used in connection is also a dangerous practise. Wetzel, &
Thabet, (2015) stated that, Fall due to ladder is another risk which could cause the accident of
working from heights. It happens sometimes that imbalance leads to fall from ladder that could
cause serious accident. Use of ladders made up of bamboos are also a wrong practices as risks of
breaking of ladders might be happen.

Safety Technology
Working at Height Hazards and Control measures. Working at heights remain one of the
biggest causes of occupational fatalities and major injuries. There are may reasons involved in
accident from heights like over-balancing, failure of fragile surface, overbalancing and many
others. Technology has played a vital role in reducing the risk of accidents of working at
Illustration 1: Fall From Height Fatalities
(Source: Fall From Height Fatalities, 2017)

heights . There are some hierarchy of control measure which could be adopted by construction
companies to overcome the accidents which are as follows-
 Avoidance where possible of working at heights.
 Mobile platforms should be used instead of ladders which is also called as Mobile
Elevating work platforms (MEWP). It is the machine used by construction companies.
 Steel work is an important hazardous occupational which can be made safer by the use of
modern equipments instead of bamboo work (Rahman & et.al., 2015).
 Use scatfolds as it is best means of working at heights.
 Ladders must be fixed securely top and bottom.
 Safe use of safety nets as is also one of the best practices which could overcome the risk
of accidents form working from heights.
CONCLUSION
From the above assessment it has be concluded that management of risk is very important
as it is the process of identifying the risk in the organization which assist in controlling various
problems arising at the workplace. There are many hazards which can take place and can be
identified through risk assessment such as impact of falling material , hand grip, the slipperiness,
the slope of work surface, fall due to phobia from height. The report has discussed the risk and
reason included in the working from heights in construction companies at sites,. Technology has
played an effective roles in overcoming all these issues.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Fang, W & et.al., (2018). Falls from heights: A computer vision-based approach for safety
harness detection. Automation in Construction, 91, pp.53-61.
Jarvie-Eggart, M. E. (Ed.). (2015). Responsible Mining: Case Studies in Managing Social &
Environmental Risks in the Developed World. SME.
Simpson, G., & Horberry, T. (2018). Understanding human error in mine safety. CRC Press.
Bahr, N. J. (2018). System safety engineering and risk assessment: a practical approach. CRC
press.
Louche, C., & Idowu, S. (2017). Innovative CSR: From risk management to value creation.
Routledge.
Smith, N. M.& et.al.,(2016). Human health and safety in artisanal and small-scale mining: an
integrated approach to risk mitigation. Journal of cleaner production. 129. 43-52.
Flin, R., & O'Connor, P. (2017). Safety at the sharp end: a guide to non-technical skills. CRC
Press.
Little, H., (2017). Promoting risk-taking and physically challenging play in Australian early
childhood settings in a changing regulatory environment. Journal of Early Childhood
Research, 15(1), pp.83-98.
Ong, J.S & et.al., (2018). Height and overall cancer risk and mortality: evidence from a
Mendelian randomisation study on 310,000 UK Biobank participants. British journal of
cancer, 118(9), p.1262.
Rahman, A & et.al., (2015), March. Musculoskeletal health and safety of aged workers in manual
handling works. In 2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and
Operations Management (IEOM) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.
Wetzel, E.M. and Thabet, W.Y., (2015). The use of a BIM-based framework to support safe
facility management processes. Automation in Construction, 60, pp.12-24.

Online:
Average Number of accidents in Australia from working at heights. 2018. [Online]. Accessed
through: <https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/statistics-and-research/statistics/fatalities/
fatality-statistics >.
Fall From Height Fatalities. 2017 [Online]. Accessed through:
<https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/infographic-fatalities-injuries-and-solutions-
construction#picModal>/

1