hello my name is Toby and I work in the
City of London corporation's health and
safety team where it's our job to help
keep people safe who are working here in
the business and financial center known
as the square mile in this short video
we're going to be looking at emergency
rescue arrangements that need to be in
place for when people have fallen or
become stuck whilst working at height
there are many activities that involve
working at height such as being on a
roof working in a cradle or cherry
picker on scaffolding or even cleaning
windows in the first instance the law
requires you to do everything you
reasonably can to prevent someone
falling at all but this may not always
be feasible having accepted this risk
then you must still try to minimize the
distance and consequence of a fall but
additionally plan for how you will get
that person back to safety afterwards
this is known as your rescue plan and
the details of this need to be just as
specific as planning the work in the
first place it is important that your
rescue plan is suitable and works so
that those that need to be rescued can
be so quickly and safely
unfortunately we find that that's not
always the case emergency rescue
situations may come about for a number
of different but foreseeable reasons
cradle use is common in the city and
they can cease or stop working or a
person may simply become unexpectedly
unconscious or unwell
whilst in an awkward location or a
person may even fall whilst on a lanyard
and then remain suspended if a person is
suspended for even a short amount of
time this may result in a
life-threatening condition called
suspension trauma when planning the
rescue arrangements it might be useful
to ask yourself the following questions
how will you know if someone is in need
of rescue how quickly can you get to
them how quickly can you get them to a
safe place and what equipment and
training do you need to make all this
actually happen there are many different
types of rescue systems and this short
video cannot cover them all and provides
only one filmed example ultimately you
will need to be confident that what you
choose is appropriate for how you intend
to use it some systems
allow for self-rescue provided the
person is still conscious you will need
to ensure that your risk assessment
considers what level of rescue you might
actually need
once the planning has been done then the
best thing you can do is to turn it into
a written emergency rescue plan that you
can communicate to everyone who needs to
know it from managers to contractors and
site security teams a critical mistake
that we often see is just to rely on
emergency services to carry out any
rescue that might be needed whilst there
may be some circumstances where this is
appropriate
the initial duty to rescue lies with
those undertaking the work you must have
a plan for rescuing them yourself as the
emergency services may not be able to
attend or assist here are some specific
issues that you might need to consider
when planning a rescue priority should
always be given to minimizing the risk
of a fall even during a rescue operation
don't just rely on direct rescue by rope
as the first option if safer options can
be planned that keep the risks of a
rescue of falling low have you thought
about exactly how the rescuer or the
rescue team will actually get safely to
a person stuck at height
if you are using vehicles such as cherry
pickers for rescue then can they reach
all of the areas where people will be
working is the ground even able to
support them and do the vehicles have
the necessary reach can a cradle safely
lower all the way to the ground if
necessary
are there any issues with passing
traffic obstructing rescue or a risk of
collision with other vehicles consider
also the safety of the rescuer good
rescue planning will ideally avoid
putting anyone else at risk it's usually
preferable to lower or raise a casualty
to safety remotely rather than relying
on anyone else to do the rescue directly
and if you're going to rely on anchor
points for rescue equipment you need to
make sure that they are either
unquestionably reliable or can handle
the additional loads imposed upon them
during the rescue such as the weight of
the casualty and the rescuer are these
anchor points in the right place for
rescue and positioned where any rescue
equipment such as ropes can be safely
used these are questions that should be
answered in advance not during the
intensity of a rescue operation and
finally you don't want to be thinking
about whether or not rescue equipment is
in good condition when you are already
in that emergency situation it's better
to have a system of regular maintenance
and inspection checks in place so that
the equipment is ready to be deployed
immediately if needed so when you're
considering worker height make sure
you've got a suitable and written
emergency rescue plan in place that has
been communicated to everyone before you
let the work go ahead