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Kee Safety ensures optimal safety with KeeGuard® ladder kit

To provide optimal safety to those working at height, Kee Safety, a global supplier of fall protection equipment, has launched KeeGuard® Ladder Kit, a permanently fixed guardrail system that is used in conjunction with safety ladders and self-closing gates.

KeeGuard® Ladder Kit has been designed to provide a working at height safety solution that complies with EN 14122-4. This standard recommends that ‘to prevent falling through the access opening at arrival areas, the opening shall be provided with a gate.’ It also states that at drop edges of arrival areas, ‘a guardrail should be provided at least 1.5m either side of the ladder.’

To ensure it complies with the standard, KeeGuard® Ladder Kit is a ‘retro-fit’ guardrail solution that fits to existing fixed ladder or cat ladders, providing 1.5m guardrailing on both sides of the ladder. Quick and easy to install, it simply clamps on to the existing fixed ladder, forming a continual link from the guardrail to the stringer. The kit’s unique fitting can clamp around a flat or tubular stringer up to 75mm in width/diameter and does not need to be mechanically fixed to the roofing membrane or building’s structure.

“Awareness of the dangers of working at height has increased in the past few years, with legislations such as the Work at Height Regulations of 2005 coming into play” explains John Ingram, Group Product Manager – Fall Protection at Kee Safety. “Great steps have been made to ensure the safety of workers undertaking work at height, and we believe that the introduction of this new product is another step in the right direction.”

Available in a galvanised steel finish, KeeGuard® Ladder Kit has been independently tested and complies with EN 14122-4.

For more information, please visit www.keesafety.co.uk.

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New guidance to stop workers dying each week from occupational disease

The construction industry has launched new guidance to encourage better management of occupational health risks. HSE is urging the industry to put an end to the hundreds of construction workers that die of occupational diseases every month.

Inspectors issued more than 200 health related enforcement notices during the recent Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) construction inspection initiative.

This highlighted the widespread misunderstanding of what ‘occupational health’ means in the construction sector and the employers’ misguided perception that health is more difficult to manage than safety.

The new guide ‘Occupational health risk management in construction’ PDF has been written by the Construction Industry Advisory Committee (ConIAC) Health Risks Working Group and formatted with the assistance of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

It gives practical advice on what ‘health risk’ means for the construction industry, and the role of occupational health service provision in preventing or controlling those risks.

Ian Strudley, Chair of the ConIAC Health Risks Working Group and HSE Principal Specialist Inspector said “The misunderstanding of occupational health within the construction sector means that whilst the industry focus on managing the more familiar safety issues, serious health risks get ignored. We cannot let this continue.”

“When figures show that construction workers are at least 100 times more likely to die from a disease caused or made worse by their work as they are from a fatal accident, the industry must take action.”

Shelley Frost, Executive Director – Policy at IOSH said “There have been huge advances in improving safety in the construction sector over the last 15 years but the industry has yet to generate such advances in improving the picture in occupational health.”

“Every week, 100 people die from construction-related ill health in the UK. Less than half of construction workers also stay employed in the industry until they are 60.”

“This new guide raises awareness of the occupational health issues in construction, demystifies how to best manage them and provides information as to where firms can get help and assistance.”

“Ultimately, if the advice is followed, it could help to lower incidence rates of occupational ill-health and transform the perception of working in construction to that of an attractive and respectful industry with great career choices.”

The guidance is freely available on HSE’s and IOSH’s website:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/iacs/coniac/coniac-oh-guidance.pdf
http://www.iosh.co.uk/techguide

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VIDEO: Disturbing lack of health and safety in Mecca

The collapse of a Saudi crane in the holy city of Mecca that claimed the lives of over 100 people over the weekend has revealed an ugly side of the worldwide construction boom. Shocking scenes recorded by local Saudis show that health and safety is of little-to-no concern for those who are responsible for building up the ancient city.
For the last few years especially, residents of the city of Mecca have been forced to accept unrelenting construction work as Saudi leaders attempt to expand the city into a bustling metropolis envied the world over.
As development has been on the rise, so too has the number of incidents, casualties and fatalities involving construction workers and bystanders, indicating a dangerous lack of health and safety precaution within the industry.
The Executive Director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, Dr Irfan al-Alawi, commented on the crane accident and the overall issue with safety, saying “It is a tragedy what has happened, but it didn’t come as a surprise. There have been many accidents. Last the last few floors of a building being constructed right next to the clock tower caught fire and they had to call the fire engine from Taif, which is about 45 mins away, to help extinguish it.”
“There is no health and safety system in place. In London when you have construction work the public are kept away, but in Mecca machinery is deployed in areas accessible to the public. There are not enough volunteers looking to check children do not go into the dangerous areas. Even some of the engineers don’t have safety gear, helmets or gloves to wear, because it is very hot, summer time temperatures 45C.”
Amateur videos of demolition work in Mecca posted on YouTube show the sheer scale of the dangers workers and locals are being exposed to every day at the hands of a poorly managed construction industry. Take a look below, they speak volumes:

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