PASMA LAUNCHES SAFER TOWER USE CAMPAIGN

Access body urges use of BS EN1004 towers properly erected

A Health & Safety Event in Birmingham will see the launch of a new campaign by PASMA on the dangers of using unsafe towers.

The campaign aims to show the importance of using properly assembled towers and those certified to the European standard BS EN1004 rather than “often cheap and potentially dangerous alternatives” adding, “your life or the lives of others may depend” on using the right tower.

The PASMA campaign highlights the HSE blitz of construction sites throughout 2013 when almost half the sites visited were failing to meet basic safety standards including failures related to the work at height equipment used.

Peter Bennett, PASMA’s Managing Director, said:

“Dangerous work at height is far more common than it has to be, as using safe equipment can prevent many of the issues that repeatedly come up, such as not fitting proper platforms and guard rails. Simply using an EN1004 tower can make all the difference when it comes to a site’s safety.

This campaign aims to show that this isn’t just about fines and figures, but about lives. Falling from height kills more people than anything else in the workplace, which is why it warns people using towers that their lives and the lives of others may depend on only buying or hiring a safe tower.”

PASMA point out that there are many examples of people whose falls could have been prevented by using safe towers.

Freedom taken away in a moment

Robert Wilkin was paralysed when he broke his back last year after falling from a second-hand scaffold tower put up by an untrained builder.

An EN1004 tower could have easily prevented the structure being used in the unsafe way that led to the fall. Safe towers are designed to avoid anyone ever having to stand on an unprotected platform.

Mr Wilkin said:

“I don’t remember much about what happened after I fell. Lots of people were rushing about and it took the ambulance crew about 20 minutes to get me onto a back board because I had fallen in an awkward place between pallets of bricks.

“My life has been ruined because I can no longer do the things I used to do. I can’t go out on my own or drive. I feel my freedom has been taken from me and it’s been really hard on my family.”

The PASMA website has up a new ‘Scaffold Towers’ section as part of the campaign. It outlines the facts about how dangerous unsafe work at height is, and gives simple and practical advice about how to keep safe, as well as offering a free Tower Safety Pack filled with essential information on buying and maintaining a tower

This article was posted on 6th May 2014

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