03/10/2024 11:29:43
New Working at Height Training for Health and Social Care
Blue Stream Academy is pleased to announce the release of a new Working at Height course. This course is now available on:
- the GP eLearning and Management platform
- the Health and Social Care eLearning and Management platform
- Hospice eLearning and Management platform
- and Private and Urgent Care eLearning and Management Platform.
When is a Person Working at Height?
Work at height means work in any place where, if precautions were not taken, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury.
You are working at height if you:
- Work above ground/floor level.
- Could fall from an edge, through an opening, or through a fragile surface.
- Could fall from ground level into an opening in a floor or a hole in the ground.
- Work at height does not include a slip or trip on the level, as a fall from height involves a fall from one level to a lower level, nor does it include walking up and down a permanent staircase in a building.
Hierarchy of Controls
Considering the risks of falling associated with working at height, putting in place sensible and proportionate control measures to manage them is an important part of working safely. This step-by-step guide should be followed to help control risks when working at height.
Can you avoid working from height in the first place?
Do as much work as possible from the ground. This could include the use of extendable tools from ground level to remove the need to climb a ladder.
Can you prevent a fall from occurring?
Use an existing place of work that is already safe or use safety equipment to prevent people from falling.
Can you minimise the distance and/or consequences of a fall?
If the risk of a person falling remains, you must take sufficient measures to reduce the risk, minimising the distance and/or consequences of a fall. Collective fall protection could include using work equipment such as safety nets and soft-landing systems installed close to the level of the work. Personal protection could include industrial rope access or fall-arrest systems.
Always consider measures that offer collective protection first.
For tasks of low risk and short duration (no more than 30 minutes), using ladders and stepladders can be a sensible and practical option.
If a risk assessment determines that it is correct to use a ladder, it is important to ensure that:
- the right type of ladder for the job is used
- the person is competent at using the type of ladder and undertaking the task safely
- the person is fully aware of the risks.
Working at Heights Training for Health and Social Care Professionals
Despite the innovations in safety and technology, working at height carries significant risk. Our new healthcare eLearning course has been developed to provide health and social care professionals with a basic introduction into the topic, focusing on crucial elements such as working at height legislative considerations, the importance of planning, equipment selection, and the different types of access equipment that could be used.
This course is suitable for anyone who does any work at height as part of their job role. As this course also contains information relating to the planning and risk assessments ahead of working at height, it may be particularly useful for those responsible for facilities management.
This course’s content is primarily based on The Work at Height Regulations 2005 and information from the Health and Safety Executive. It would be beneficial for those completing this eLearning course to pair it with practical training to ensure that the risks of working at height are completely understood.
How do I access Blue Stream Academy’s courses?
Blue Stream Academy’s health and social care training is accessed on a single annual subscription basis. Our GP training subscriptions are based on patient-list size for organisations, or a single rate for individual GP locums and nurse locums with an active GMC or NMC registration number.
The Hospice, Private and Urgent Care, and Health and Social Care training package subscriptions are based on the number of users within the organisation.
Click here for further information on Blue Stream Academy’s range of eLearning and CQC reporting systems designed specifically for health and social care providers.