"he suddenly lost his balance and....."

 

Working from height is a hazard that results in many injuries and fatalities on an annual basis in our industry. Here is a recent incident emphasizing the importance of using a safety harness when working at height.

 

A 23-year-old boy died this afternoon following an accident at work in a town in Southern Europe inside the factory of a company that deals with aluminum profiles.

According to an initial reconstruction, the young man, was carrying out maintenance work on the roof of a shed, a few meters high; he suddenly lost his balance and fell heavily on the ground.

The health workers arrived on the spot shortly but were not able to save his life. The 23-year-old died practically on the spot. The Prosecutor of (the town) has opened an investigation to determine if there is responsibility for the accident at work that cost the life of the young worker from (town name omitted).

 

We offer our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. Working from height is a hazard we feel employee’s take for granted. Either they feel that their time of exposure is minimal or they are invincible. Regardless, of the amount of time one is exposed to a height. No one is invincible. Everyone bleeds.

Occasionally we tell this story to workers. Ten years ago, we were walking into a large sporting goods store with my daughter (6-7 years old). Upon walking into the store we observe a high lift with a worker 15 meters in the air. The worker was not wearing a safety harness. As we walked into the store. We asked to see the store manager to the first employee we saw. That employee said “oh is there something I can help you with?” I said, “No, but I would like to speak to your store manager.” Two other employees came up to us asking if we could help. Each time I asked “are you the store manager?” Each time they said “no but can I help you.” During this entire time my daughter was embarrassed and wanted to run and hide. I told her stay. Finally, a man approached and said “I’m the store manager, how can I help you?” I explained the safety issue that I observed with contractor 15 meters in the air. I emphasized that the store manager would be held personally liable if anything happened to him because he was not wearing a safety harness as he was required to. The store manager said “Oh my, we don’t want him to fall, what shopper would want to walk over blood to get in the store.” Upon leaving the store we say that the contractor was out of the high lift and had purchased a safety harness from a nearby home improvement store. Meaning the contractor never had a safety harness, nor would he have if me and my daughter did not stop and point out the safety issue to the store manager.

 

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