What is Fall prevention?
If there is work to be undertaken at height, fall prevention is the very first step to be taken in the planning phase of fall protection.
There is an obvious hierarchy of preferred solutions when considering potential falls from height
- Work from the ground if at all possible
- If there is no alternative to working at height, use equipment to prevent a fall
- Use specialised equipment to minimise the distance and the possible consequences of a fall
Fall prevention equipment falls in to two main categories.
- Collective/Passive – requires no action by the user to achieve protection – e.g. a hand-rail
- Personal/Active – requires an action by the user(s) to achieve protection – e.g. a safety line that the user must clip on to, to be protected.
Obviously, following the hierarchy, a collective/passive system that prevents a fall is preferable to a system that is Personal/Active that mitigates the result of a fall.
