News

Scaffolder who died in 25ft fall was not wearing a safety harness

A scaffolder who died in a 25ft fall from a house should have been wearing a harness, a fatal accident inquiry has found.

The inquiry held at Dundee Sheriff Court has determined that the worker died of multiple injuries, blunt force trauma and a fall from height.

He had been helping a friend and colleague carry out repairs to the roof of a property when the accident happened on June 16, 2011 at Sommerville Place, Dundee.

Tayside Police and medics had attended the accident but the man of Fintry, Dundee, died at the scene.

A full investigation was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive after the incident and evidence was heard from the body.

The inquiry heard that he had worked in the scaffolding industry for more than 30 years and was carrying out the job as a favour.

He had lost his balance, fallen and been fatally injured as a result.

In his determination Sheriff Thomas Hughes said: “I find that the defect in the system of working, which contributed to the death, was the failure to use a harness and the failure to install a guard rail at the end of the scaffolding on which he had been working.”

Sheriff Hughes added: “This incident is a tragic demonstration of why health and safety regulations must be complied with. If he had been wearing a harness it is unlikely that he would have sustained his injuries and he would have been protected by the use of a guard rail. Unfortunately persons who do not abide by the Regulations, do so at their peril.”

Date for the diary!

If you are unable to attend S&H Expo in Birmingham, please note ZT Safety Systems will be exhibiting at Vertikal days Expo in Haydock Park, Newton-Le-Willows, Merseyside, WA12 0HQ on 27th and 28th June 2012.

Now in its 6th Year, Vertikal days is the UK and Ireland’s fasting growing specialist Lifting and Access event. In addition to the exhibits there are a wide range of meetings, seminars & workshops held during the event, many of them on site in the Market Place. There is free parking, lunch, all day coffee, tea and pastries to make your visit to the event more rewarding.
You can find us on Stand MP9 Marketplace

If you would like tickets please contact gill@ztsafetysystems.com

Look forward to seeing you there!

Come and visit us at S&H Expo Birmingham NEC

The Safety & Health Expo 2012 is Europe's definitive annual event that brings together the safety and health industry. From 15-17 May 2012 at the NEC, Birmingham, industry members will come together at the only show with support from the key industry partners – IOSH, RoSPA and BSIF. Whether you’re a practitioner, supplier, distributor or manufacturer, Safety and Health Expo 2012 is the essential event for the health and safety industry. It will be packed full of the industry’s leading manufacturers, distributors and suppliers showcasing their latest innovations and you will be invited to hear Leading Industry speakers discuss the most pressing issues of the day. With over 100 hours of educational content and demonstrations at the event, the knowledge and best practice you will gain will help you all year through. The Expo welcomes a wide variety of senior professionals looking to source new suppliers, network with colleagues and listen to leading industry speakers discussing the most pressing issues of the day.

For further information please contact gill@ztsafetysystems.com

ISS lead the way in promoting excellence in Health and Safety by choosing ZT

ISS Facility Services are dedicated to protecting the personal health and safety of their workforce, recognising that healthy business performance is delivered through healthy people, safe processes and equipment.

ISS lead the way by equipping their workers with the latest in technology for working at height safety, the ZT Safety Harness.

Employees working on a prestigious building in Canary Wharf, London were the first to be equipped and trained on using the award winning IAPA ‘Contribution to Safe working at height’ ZT Safety Harness.

The key features of the harness are the harness usability, comfort due to having no groin straps and the reduction of risk from Suspension trauma compared with a standard 5 point harness.

The basic ZT concept centre’s on the harness supporting the chest area/torso in the usual way, but rather than grabbing the groin, it grabs the calf muscles, via sliding straps and self tightening cuffs. This pulls the falling person into the foetal position which provides a shock absorbing effect as well as supporting the person in a comfortable manner that reduces the risk associated with suspension trauma.

The ZT Harness is manufactured in Hickstead nr Brighton and all components are sourced from the UK.

Mark Stanley, ISS Facility Services H&S said “ISS are committed to safer working for their employees and I am confident the new ZT Safety Harness and the excellent training they provide will help achieve this”

Daughter falls through roof whilst working for fathers company

A father has vowed to ‘never let it happen again’ after his daughter fell 15ft through a roof warehouse while she was working for his maintenance firm.

The female fractured two vertebrae and had to be airlifted to hospital after she tripped and fell through a roof light on April 4 last year.

The 27-year-old was working for her fathers firm, while they were carrying out a maintenance contract at the site of multi-national animal nutrition and health products manufacturer .

the company was fined £2,000 for failing to ensure the health and safety of his employees.

In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), inspectors found the boards on the roof had no guardrails, workers had no harnesses, and there was no netting underneath to prevent them from landing on the concrete floor.

The HSE claimed the manufactuer commissioned the maintenance company because the quote they gave was £20,000 cheaper than another specialist roofing firm — but they then failed to check if they were competent to do the work.

The maintenance company owner said that he had once worked on a roof in 1969 but admitted that regulations had since changed and he had not been trained to modern standards.

Speaking after the hearing at Burton Magistrates’ Court, HSE inspector Lindsay Hope said: “The company decided to cut costs by hiring a cheap contractor without checking whether he was competent to do the job.

“Clear guidance on working at height is available from HSE and it is unacceptable to see such failings.”

Facelift training recommends ZT Safety Harness

“One of the UK’s leading independent 'Work at Height' training companies ‘Facelift Training’ have taken the lead by offering the new IAPA award winning ZT Safety Harnesses for use on their courses. Every attendee has the option to bring their own fully inspected harness or if preferable hire a harness from the ZT range. The new scheme has been piloted at Facelift Hickstead depot and due to its success will now be rolled out across the UK.

Facelift recently adopted the ZT Harness as best practice for all their employees in depots up and down the country. Facelifts Director of training and HR Jane Lawrence says “We believe safety is paramount and are privileged to be able to offer our clients the latest and most innovative safety product on the market”.

HSE fee for intervention scheme to go ahead

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today announced that its cost recovery scheme, Fee for Intervention, is going ahead but will now not start in April 2012.

The scheme sets out to recover costs from those who break health and safety laws for the time and effort HSE spends on helping to put matters right - investigating and taking enforcement action.

Law-abiding businesses will be free from costs and will not pay a penny.

Gordon MacDonald, HSE's programme director, said:

"The Government has agreed that it is right that those who break the law should pay their fair share of the costs to put things right - and not the public purse.

"The Government intends to proceed with the FFI scheme as recommended to ministers by HSE's Board in December in response to the formal consultation that took place last Summer.

"Discussions are still taking place on the technical details of the scheme, which we expect to conclude soon.

"Therefore, FFI will not be introduced in April but at the next available opportunity, which is likely to be October 2012."

HSE is taking advantage of the extra time to work further with businesses to improve their understanding of the scheme and how it will affect them.

Detailed guidance for employers and organisations will be available on HSE's website ahead of implementation.

A practice run of the new processes and procedures underpinning the scheme is already underway in HSE and will continue until the scheme is implemented.

ZT launch the New ZT Flame Retardant Coverall

The ZT FR Coverall is worn in the same manner as a normal coverall however the harness itself is fully protected from chemicals and toxic by the FR coverall, rather than a traditional harness that is worn outside the garment. It comes in a selection of colours and can also be made with specifications such as GO/RT and Hi Vis.
All ZT FR Coverall harnesses conform to the following EN531, EN ISO 11612:2008, and EN1149-5:2008.

Combining the strength of Kevlar with the comfort and durability of pyrovatex, the FR Harness is the fall arrest harness for offshore, Rail and steel workers looking for the kit to allow them to complete their work comfortably and in the knowledge that they are fully protected.

For more info or to arrange a visit please email gill@ztsafetysystems.com

Network Rail Farringdon Thameslink Project adopts the ZT Safety Harness

Network Rail Farringdon Thameslink Project has taken another giant leap towards supporting their vision for achieving the highest standards in Health and Safety by introducing the new IAPA award winning ZT Safety Harness to their workforce and sub contractors.

Connecting East and West London the programme will be the largest addition to the south east rail network in 50 years, with the main construction works to be complete in 2017. Health and safety management is critical to the success of the programme as it aspires to build the Thameslink Project in a way that achieves exemplary levels of Health, Safety and Environmental performance.

ZT Safety Systems were introduced to the rail companies working on the Programme by Bruce Lever, of Facelift's rail division. He has been an advocate of the ZT Safety Harness since it was adopted as best practice by the leading power access companies, Facelift, Niftylift and Ascendant Access.
The key features that appealed to the client were the harness usability, comfort due to having no groin straps and the reduction of risk from Suspension trauma compared with a standard 5 point harness.

The basic ZT Harness concept centre’s on the harness supporting the chest area/torso in the usual way, but rather than grabbing the groin, it grabs the calf muscles, via sliding straps and self tightening cuffs. This pulls the falling person into the foetal position which provides a shock absorbing effect as well as supporting the person in a comfortable manner that does not induce suspension trauma.

Network Rail Farringdon Thameslink Project have adopted the ZT Flame Retardant Coverall harness as part of their ZERO HARM Campaign and H&S objectives for 2012. The ZT FR/GORT Coverall harness is the only one on the market developed specifically for the rail industry (GO/RT) that conforms to FR standards EN531, EN ISO 11612:2008, EN1149-5:200.

VVB’s William Cotter stated “he was really impressed with the harness and would like to see the ZT adopted as best practice with all the companies working on the project”

IPAF MEWP harness inspection training was delivered to the workforce by Facelift Training senior instructor Eddie Reast in conjunction with ZT Safety Systems ‘Steve Morris’ and Paddy Orrell on site at Network Rail Farringdon location in central London.

For further information please visit www.ztsafetysystems.com

Benefits of the ZT Safety Harness demonstrated to London Underground

We recently introduced the ZT Safety Harness to a number of maintenance companies working with London Underground. The Harness features and benefits were presented to operative teams, together with a video screening and live demonstration of the harness.

The live demonstration was particularly well received, as it was then easy to see how practical and comfortable the harness was to wear and how it performed in the event of a fall.

The ZT harness can be used in many situations when working at height. The operatives have many uses for the harness system from fixing guttering on station roofs to working within the inverts on a station platform.

As the rail industry tries at all times to adopt best safety practice using Facelift’s Rail Division and the ZT Harness, it proves to be a real benefit to their operatives and surveyors who are called to react at short notice for the rails emergency and planned maintenance needs.

The pictures shows Steve Morris and Paddy Orrell of ZT Safety Systems during an evening presentation on site to one of our clients who are promoting the use of our harness.

For further information or to book a presentation please contact gill@ztsafetysystems.com