A UK All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has suggested that Britain needs a stronger system for reporting falls from heights in the workplace, and also wants tougher penalties for breaches. The parliamentary group is led by Alison Thewliss MP and wants to reduce the number of falls from heights in UK workplaces.
A report by the group proposes that a new independent body is formed to oversee the collection and management of data about workplace falls and share the data between the industry and the UK Government. There is also a proposal for tax breaks for small to medium businesses to help them make safety technology investments.
The report looked at what they call Britain’s “working from height culture”, and how workers and management can take more responsibility for accident prevention.
Some experts have suggested that the requirements to report falls from heights are unnecessarily complex, and may have resulted in many falls or near misses not being reported.
Thewliss said that there were over 10 million UK workers whose job requires them to spend some of their time working at heights. She commented:
“There should be no question or doubt over workers’ ability to return home safely to their families each evening.”
Many workers wear protective workwear or PPE (personal protection equipment) that can soften the impact on the body when falling, but according to the Health and Safety Executive, falls from heights still represent over a quarter of all fatal accidents at work.
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