What are the employer’s obligations to work at heights?

Falling from a height is a common cause of accidents, generally severe or fatal. Work at height is one of the most dangerous works, endangering the life and health of workers. Therefore, exceptional precautions must be taken when carrying out work at heights due to the high degree of threat to the health and life of workers.

Work at height means, inter alia, work on scaffolding, building structures, ceilings, chimneys, ladders or other elevations located at a height of at least 1.0 m above ground level or floor level.

Work at a height shall not be work on a surface, irrespective of the height at which it is situated, if that surface is sheathed on all sides to a height of at least 1,5 m by full walls or walls with glazed windows or is fitted with other fixed structures or devices to protect the worker from falling from a height.

Only workers who:

  • have a current medical certificate on the absence of contraindications to work at heights. Referral for altitude surveys should contain a clear annotation about work above or below 3 m
  • have undergone training in the field of health and safety and on-the-job instruction familiarizing them with the specifics of work at height and the risks occurring at the workplace
  • are guaranteed a meansand personal protection and have the ability to use them
  • have been familiarized with the assessment of occupational risks related to the work performed

Due to the classification of work at height as the so-called particularly dangerous work, the employer has a number of duties aimed at ensuring safe performance of work. The most important are:

  • ensuring direct supervision of these works by persons designated for this purpose,
  • provision of appropriate personal and collective protection equipment,
  • providing employees with on-the-job instruction.

The employer should also remember that, according to the requirements, on surfaces erected to a height of more than 1.0 m above the floor or ground level, on which employees may be present in connection with the work performed, or serving as passages, balustrades consisting of protective railings located at a height of at least 1.1 m and curbs with a height of at least 0.15 m should be installed.

Work at height should be organized and carried out in a way that does not force workers to lean beyond the railing railing or outline of the device on which the employee will stand.

If, due to the nature and conditions of work at height, it is impossible to install railings, other effective means of protecting workers from falling from a height, appropriate to the type and conditions of work, should be used.

Employees in such a situation are to be provided with an appropriate type of equipment protecting against falling from a height, such as: safety harnesses with a safety cord attached to fixed elements of the structure or safety harness with a lap belt.

Source : https://poradnikprzedsiebiorcy.pl/-praca-na-wysokosci-obowiazki-pracodawcy

Region Gdański NSZZ „Solidarność”

Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.

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