Height safety and fall protection systems require regular compliance inspections. It is vital they are done by the right person.
A regular, documented compliance inspection of height safety and fall protection systems are vital part of every workplace safety system.
But it is important to understand what is needed to make sure that those inspections are going to actually provide the data and assessment needed to keep your system working as it is intended.
Why are inspections required
Like any other piece of plant or equipment, height safety and fall protection systems need to be maintained if they are to continue operating in their intended manner.
One of the more clearly defined parts of this process are the scheduled compliance inspections.
The need for these inspections is outlined in the Australian standard that governs the selection, use and maintenance of industrial fall-arrest systems – AS/NZS1891, part 4.
In the standard it states the frequency of these inspections should be “as recommended by the manufacturer to a maximum of five-yearly. 12-monthly inspection in the absence of such recommendations.”
However, the recommendation of both Kattsafe and SafetyLink – the manufacturers where HSE sources roof anchors from – are for annual inspections of their respective products.
At time of writing, HSE is unaware of any anchor manufacturer that believes inspections can be carried out at five-yearly intervals. The height safety industry, and our partner clients, have happily settled on annual inspections as the normalised frequency.
In some highly corrosive and harsh environments more frequent inspections may be required, but this is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
What is required to complete a height safety compliance inspection?
In AS/NZS 1891.4, it states that the inspections of the anchorage points – the main part of the majority of fall protection systems installed – must be undertaken by a “height safety equipment inspector”.
What is a height safety equipment inspector? That is also defined within the standard.
A height safety equipment inspector is a “person who is competent in the skills needed to detect faults in height safety equipment and to determine remedial action”.
How do you know if someone is competent in all those things?
Who can be a height safety equipment inspector?
One thing to keep front of mind is that there are no formal qualifications for becoming a height safety equipment inspector. It is not a degree you can complete at university. It is not even really a vocation program you could do at TAFE.
The journey to becoming competent in understanding height safety and fall protection systems, especially when it comes to planning remedial action, is experience.
For a facility manager or other person obtaining quotes for the completion of compliance inspections, understanding this is critical.
In the event of a fall, failing to complete due diligence on those completing and signing off on these inspections can leave the building owner or facility manager with some liability.
How HSE does it
At Height Safety Engineers we have developed a process for making sure that all our compliance inspectors have extensive experience in the installation and use of fall protection systems and the standards that govern them before they step out to complete their first inspection.
Every single one of our inspectors has started out on the tools, working within our system installation team. Most began as labourers, assisting our more experienced installers while learning the basics and getting familiar with how all the different components can be used in various situations. They gain experience in how fall protection systems are implemented in different environments across different industries, new construction as well as retrofit systems for existing buildings.
The next step on the path is to become a leading hand themselves. In this role, they take on the additional responsibilities of having to run the installation team from site arrival through to job completion. In some cases, this can involve working directly with clients as circumstances can change between original system design and the installation itself.
This role continues to build their base of knowledge around all the different types of fall protection systems there are, and all the different environments and situations they can be installed in.
From there, a technician can start working with one of our senior compliance technicians. They learn the ins and outs of conducting an inspection and looking at the whole of a system and its intent. This continues to build on the knowledge gained working as an installer.
They are trained to look for any sort of problem, from the most obvious through to tiniest, easy to miss detail. Because any error in installation or degradation of a height safety system is placing worker’s lives at risk.
Our compliance technicians have their work supported by processes and reporting procedures that are NATA accredited. This means they have been scrutinised and checked in depth and confirmed, by an independent third party, to be compliant with relevant international ISO standards for this sort of work.
Finally, and this could arguably be the most important part, once a technician joins our compliance team that becomes their entire job. They are not roofers or plumbers or tilers they do a bit of height safety on the side or continue to work with our installation team. They sit in their own department dedicated solely to undertaking compliance inspections and making sure that everyone using a height safety is protected against the risks of a fall.
Partners in protecting people
Height Safety Engineers are the experts in fall protection compliance. Start your safety journey today and get advice from our experienced team of dedicated technicians.
Call us on 1300 884 978, email us on enquiries@heightsafety.net or click here to fill out the contact form.
