Workplace Health and Safety Queensland and key players within South East Queensland Height Safety Industry have been holding regular meetings. The meetings have taken place to ensure that the interpretation of the WHS Act 2011 and the relevant parts of AS1891.4 and AS4488.2 is clear and that the responsibility of installers, users and owners of height safety anchors and systems is understood.
One of the key outcomes of these meetings is that the operator and the owner of plant must ensure that all anchors and systems are compliant. This means that the height safety system is suitably documented and that the documentation is available to the person charged with managing the system.
Providing documentation is not limited to the owner and operator of the system, the manufacturer, designer and installer also have a responsibility.
In the case that this information is not available the anchor must be assessed by an engineer. This is to ensure the installation is compliant with the requirements of current legislation, Code of Practises and standards.
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This anchor is one of three on this roof that has been tagged as safe to use as a single person fall arrest anchor. Investigation has found that it was originally installed as an anchor for the purpose to support a television aerial and was never intended as a fall arrest anchor. It is constructed of 8mm stainless steel and the method of installation cannot be verified. This anchor is non-compliant and should have never been tagged. |
This image clearly illustrates the issues that are currently being addressed by Workplace Health and Safety to protect persons from the risk of a fall from heights. In an effort to get some understanding across the industry a brief document has been put together outlining the owners obligations with regard to the WHS Act 2011.