Work at Height Safety Association

News

Providers of Harness Inspection Training

Friday, 22 January 2010

In response to the following letter, published by the HSE, WAHSA have produced a list of member companies who offer Harness Inspection Training.

The letter identifies a potentially serious issue and we urge you to receive the correct training from one of the members listed.

A complete list of WAHSA members who offer Harness Inspection Training are displayed below:

Abtech Safety Ltd
Portside North
Ellesmere Port
CH56 2HQ

Tel: 01513555971
Fax: 01513571106
http://www.abtechsafety.com

Heightec Ltd
LDBP, Mintbridge Rd.
Kendal
Cumbria
LA9 6NH

Tel: 01539 728866
Fax: 01539 728833
http://www.heightec.com

Pammenter and Petrie Ltd
140-146 Brearley Street
Hockley
Birmingham
B19 3XJ

Tel: 01213 594561
Fax: 01213 594136
Email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
http://www.p-pltd.co.uk

Safetsite
Safesite House
Priestly Way
Crawley
West Sussex
RH10 9NA

Tel: 01293 529977
Fax: 01293 531166
Email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
http://www.safesite.co.uk

Spanset (UK) Ltd
Telford Way
Middlewich
Cheshire
CW10 OHX

Tel: 01606 737494
Fax: 01606 737502
Email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
http://www.spanset.co.uk

Tractel (UK) Ltd
Old Lane
Halfway
Sheffield
S20 3GA

Tel: 01142 482266
Fax: 01142 473350
http://www.tractel.com

Election of the new WAHSA Board

Thursday, 14 January 2010

At the WAHSA AGM held in November, Following his very successful time as Chairman of WAHSA, Keith Jones informed the membership that he was to stand down. Following voting, Mark Griffiths of Uniline Safety Systems was duly elected as the new Chairman. Mark is a long standing Director of WAHSA and will be an excellent successor to Keith.

Mark Griffiths and the rest of the membership wish to thank Keith for his hard work with the association, and look forward to his continued involvement as Company Secretary.

There were two further Board members elected at the AGM. These are Mr. Steve Jervis of Capital Safety and Mr Ian Jones of Abtech Safety Ltd. Both Steve and Ian have been involved in the industry for a number of years and will doubtless prove a valuable addition to the Board.

The current WAHSA Board is now structured as follows:

Mark Griffiths (Uniline Safety Systems - Chairman

Keith Jones (The Heightec Group) - Company Secretary

Derek Cowe (Dunn & Cowe Ltd) - Treasurer

Steve Jervis (The Capital Safety Group) - Board Member

Ian Jones (Abtech Safety Ltd) - Board Member

Pete Ward (Spanset UK Ltd) - Board Member

SAFETY WARNING: HACA fixed rail vertical fall arrest system type 0529.7102

Monday, 27 October 2008

The HSE has now issued its alert following the testing of the HACA fall arrest device.
Jim Skilling (Health & Safety Executive) has said that for those who have this system installed :- "you can continue to climb as long as you are using it (HACA) with the double lanyards as the primary system". He felt that this was a "sensible approach" until the HACA system is removed, "so long as the engineers know the double lanyards are the primary fall arrest system".
Please feel free to circulate further to anyone who may use this type of fall arrest device.
Direct link to the HSE alert :- http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/fixedrail011007.htm

Periodic examination of fall protection systems for work at height

Thursday, 28 August 2008

PERIODIC EXAMINATION OF FALL PROTECTION SYSTEMS FOR WORK AT HEIGHT

HORIZONTAL, Flexible Anchor Lines - EN795 Class ‘C’ :

Periodic examination of work equipment is crucial to its continuing safe performance and to the safety of workers who use it. This is particularly important with equipment used as part of a Fall Protection System, but many system owners may be unknowingly putting users at risk by not following manufacturer’s instructions when procuring inspection services.

Every component of a Fall Protection System must be supplied with manufacturer’s instructions, which include instructions for periodic examination, and which should comply with the requirements of EN 365. This standard requires that instructions for periodic examination shall include:

“Where deemed necessary by the manufacturer, e.g. due to the complexity or innovation of the equipment, or where safety critical knowledge is needed in the dismantling, reassembly or assessment of the equipment (e.g. a retractable fall arrester), an instruction specifying that periodic examinations shall only be conducted by a person or organisation authorised by the manufacturer”.

WAHSA, which represents many major horizontal flexible line manufacturers, is of the opinion that systems from different manufacturers have sufficient technical differences from each other to make it most unlikely that an examiner trained by one manufacturer would have the technical knowledge necessary to examine systems from other manufacturers. Even where an examiner has PREVIOUSLY been trained by a manufacturer, EN365 requires that they should be knowledgeable of CURRENT periodic examination requirements, recommendations and instructions issued by the manufacturer.

Using an examiner who is not aware of manufacturers’ latest technical updates, product recalls etc could result in users being provided with unsafe systems.

When selecting examiners for this type of system, WAHSA advises that for each system to be examined the examiner should be CURRENTLY registered with the system manufacturer - to receive technical updates, current instructions, product updates etc, AND be certified to install spare parts where necessary.

WAHSA supply two delegates to working group for Roof work

Monday, 12 June 2006
The Work at Height Safety Association (WAHSA) is pleased to supply two delegates on a new working group set up by the Advisory Committee for Roof work (ACR). The new group will prepare new guidance on safe methods of use and proper methods of installation for permanent horizontal fall protection systems.