Working At Height

What is working at height?
Working at Height is a crucial aspect in the Entertainment industry. A place can be considered ‘at height’ if a person can be injured falling from it. This means whether you are working on a ladder as a technician or even as a performer on the stage you are working at height. (UCATT 2016)
  Working at Height should have workers (both at height and on the ground) full attention 100% of the time!

Legislation
There are many pieces of legislation surrounding Working at Height. When overseeing any preparation for an event keep in mind, the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act and the 2005 Working at Height Restrictions (WAHR). Please follow the links for more information.

Legislation  also states that workers must be 'competent'. 'You should make sure that people with sufficient skills, knowledge and experience are employed to perform the task, or, if they are being trained, that they work under the supervision of somebody competent to do it'. (Health and Safety Executive 2014)

Falls From Height

Injury	Employed staff	Self-Employed	Combined
Fatal	19	20	39
Major/ Specified	2895	422	3317
Over-Seven-Day	3038	127	3165
Total	5952	569	6521

Table showing Falls from height 2013/2014

77 cases were prosecuted by HSE under WAH 2005, 73 Convictions were made by HSE with an average fine of over £8000. (Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 2014)

Bibliography
UCATT. 2016. “Working at height.” [online]. Available at: http://ucatt.org.uk/working-height [accessed 15 October 2016].

HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECTUTIVE. 2014. “Work at height - frequently asked questions.” [online]. Available at: http://hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/faqs.htm [accessed 15 October 2016].

HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE (HSE). 2014. Health and safety executive slips & trips and falls from height in great Britain, 2014. Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causinj/slips-trips-and-falls.pdf [accessed 15 October 2016]. For tables please look at page 3 and for information on convictions by HSE please refer to page 11