It is absolutely essential that any task that requires working at height is first thoroughly risk assessed by a competent person or person who can then develop a working at height risk assessment to identify potential fall hazards and fall risks. But not only MUST you initially risk assess the task, you must then implement the appropriate fall protection (in the form of collective protection or personal fall arrest or personal fall restraint systems). The use of these systems also require an effective rescue plan and rescue procedures to be put in place so that workers know exactly what to do in the event of a fall.
Rescue plans specifically relate to fall arrest systems, which are designed to slow a fall when one takes place, preventing serious injury – but don’t rest on your laurels. Fall arrest systems can still lead to unexpected medical emergencies. Fall arrest systems are typically made up of an anchor point, shock-absorbing lanyard and a full-body harness which distributes the force of the fall and all work together to stop a fall in its tracks. The problem? After the fall the individual is then left stranded in the air attached to that fall arrest system. That’s where rescue plans come in.
Below we’ll take you through all the steps necessary to develop a rescue plan when working at height. We’ll talk about the key steps in developing the initial plan, options for rescue, who needs rescue plans, what a rescue system and kit looks like, and how your team can prepare for a fall so they know exactly how to follow the rescue plan and reduce the stress of a fall for their coworker.
What Are The Key Steps To Developing An Effective Work At Height Rescue Plan?
There are 7 key steps you need to consider when developing a work at height rescue plan that will actually work because you’ve covered all bases. As with everything safety related when working at height, it’s better to have too much info than too little, so do your research thoroughly.
To develop an effective working at height rescue plan for use alongside your fall protection equipment on site, you must:
- Assess the risks
- Analyse all possible outcomes
- Ensure you have the right equipment and systems on site
- Provide appropriate training for all (both the fall arrest system user and the rescue team)
- Understand your medical options should something go wrong
- Practice rescue drills regularly to ensure everyone is ready should a fall actually happen
- Review your rescue plans regularly – are they still relevant? What more can be done to ensure a smoother rescue?
We’ll cover each of the steps below in greater depth to help you get to grips with the best ways to develop a rescue plan.
Assessing The Risks
The starting point here is assessing ALL possible risks to the rescue – ask yourself: What could possibly make the rescue more complex. To give you an idea of how detailed this stage should be, you’ll need to consider things like:
- What happens if their fall arrest system fails?
- What environmental factors could impact the rescue? What if it’s wet, windy, cold, icy, hot, etc?
- What happens if there are obstructions to the rescue? How quickly can you clear them?
- How quickly can the rescue team respond? What’s the ideal time and what happens if it’s outside of these times?
That is by no means a comprehensive list either. It’s up to you to properly identify all possible risks to the rescue.
Thorough Analysis
Just when you think you’ve analysed the risks enough? Nope. We said before that being overly cautious when considering the safety of those working at height is much better than being under cautious – and we know that from experience because we always err on the side of overcautiousness, and that’s what’s helped us keep our 100% height safe record.
Anyway, after considering the risks it’s then time to run the scenarios. You’ve thought about what happens if weather conditions make the rescue more difficult – well, now it’s time to imagine exactly that.
Create a step by step plan detailing exactly how you’ll deal with each scenario. It’s the only way you can ensure you’re prepared should a fall occur and a rescue attempt be necessary.
Equipment/System Selection
It’s not just about getting the right equipment for the task at hand – such as a fall arrest system – but also you have to make sure you have the right rescue equipment on site to help those who have fallen. Rope access and aerial lifts are just two examples you’ll need to consider.
Appropriate Training For All
First, all workers using the fall arrest equipment in the first place must learn how to properly use the equipment to maximise their protection. But away from that, anybody who forms part of the on-site rescue team must also receive appropriate training – both theoretical and practical – so they know what to do in the event of a fall.
Know Your Medical Options
It’s possible, even with fall arrest equipment, that a person could be injured following a fall. It’s important that you have first aid responders on site with experience with a range of injuries related to falls. It’s also vital that your rescue plan includes information about local hospitals, which may be required if more serious injuries occur.
Complete Rescue Drills
The only way to ensure your rescue team is ready to respond appropriately to a fall is by practising – when you practice rescue techniques you know how to deliver rescue services appropriately. Every few months you should run rescue drills, where those who would be responsible in the event of an actual fall get the proper practice to help them respond better should a rescue be necessary for real. Rescue teams who complete drills are far more effective when a rescue is actually needed.
Review, Review, Review…
Rescue plans aren’t a one and done thing. You have to constantly review and update them so they stay relevant and you can improve them according to any changes on the site or at your building. It’s important that all changes are tracked and any changes recorded. You should also keep records of any drills carried out to ensure you stay up to date in this way too.
What Are The 4 Most Common Forms Of Rescue?
There are really 4 options when it comes to carrying out the rescue. When an individual is suspended and the fall arrest system has done its job, you should act quickly and safely to rescue them using one of the following methods:
- Lowering the worker remotely using an aerial lift
- Raising the worker remotely using an aerial lift
- Self evacuation by descent (where the individual lowers themself to a safe area using their fall arrest equipment)
- Rescue using rope access equipment and rescue kits
You should attempt rescue in that order, where 1 should be your first port of call and 4 your final one.
When Are Rescue Plans Needed?
Rescue plans are needed whenever there’s a risk of a fall using fall arrest equipment. These systems are designed to slow and stop a fall to lessen the impact, but after the fall, the individual will still need rescuing to ensure they’re safe.
If you use fall arrest equipment at your site, then a rescue plan is necessary.
Our Most Common Customers
As a height safety company who specialise in a range of fall arrest equipment from man anchors to safety lines to overhead safety systems, we notice a few key industries installing our safety systems, which means we also know which industries require rescue plans to protect their workers:
- Maintenance
- Construction
- Utilities
- Emergency services
- Events
- Telecommunications
- And so many more
If you use fall arrest equipment, regardless of whether or not you work in the industries listed above, then you’ll need a rescue plan. The Health and Safety Executive make that very clear.
Can I Just Call The Emergency Services?
This is a fair question – so many people would assume it’s the job of emergency services to respond to rescue a worker who has fallen using fall arrest equipment. But actually, that’s the point of fall arrest equipment and rescue plan training when working at height is necessary – it prevents emergency services having to come out and rescue those who have fallen because there’s already people on site trained to deal with the issue.
Of course, that’s not to say that if a serious injury or medical emergency such as suspension trauma happens you can’t contact the emergency services to attend. But for the most part, rescue plans are designed to prevent emergency workers from having to attend less serious cases such as these when a fall arrest system has already done its job to slow and stop a fall.
Do I Need A Rescue Kit On Site? And What Rescue Equipment Is Included?
Yes you do – a rescue kit has everything you need to ensure you can safely help the worker who is suspended in the air by their fall arrest harness. Here’s what’s typically included in a rescue kit:
- Ascenders and descenders – rescue lifting devices
- Safety rope lines
- Lanyards
- Winches
- Anchor points
- Safety harness
With the right fall protection system, risk assessment, and rescue techniques and plan in place, you can greatly decrease risk to your workers.
Developing An Effective Rescue Plan For Working At Height: Final Thoughts
Ensuring you have a thorough and effective rescue plan in place for working at height is so important. Failure to do so can lead to problems which the fall arrest equipment you’ve invested in to protect your workers were supposed to prevent. Fall arrest systems are just one part of the puzzle in worker protection. The other is the rescue plan.
Get that right and you’ll drastically improve the safety of your site!