Working at Heights E-Learning course released by EssentialSkillz
EssentialSkillz, a leading global supplier of online safety training and risk assessment, has announced the release of a new E-Learning course entitiled "Working at Heights". The course is aimed at any employees or contractors required to carry out tasks that involve working from a height.
EssentialSkillz claim there is an urgent requirement for an E-Learning course designed specifically with the needs of those who work at height in mind. Falls from a height are one of the most common causes of serious injury and even death in the workplace in the UK. However, more often than not the cause of these types of accidents is found to be something that could have been entirely preventable were the guidelines for working at heights followed correctly. In Great Britain, 50 people are killed every year as a result of a fall from height - an average of about one a week, with almost 9,000 people seriously injured as a result of falls.
Employers should be aware of their legal obligation to ensure that any employees working from height have the necessary safety measures put in place. The Working at Height Regulations 2005 state that all working at height tasks should be properly planned and that those carrying out the work should be competent and aware of safety protocols. The legal definition suggests “a place is at height if a person could be injured falling from it, even if it is at or below ground level".
There is also a perception that only those working in the construction industry need worry about the risks associated with working at height. However the reality is almost every industry is exposed to these type of risks at one time or another. Furthermore the statistics reflect that a significant number of those who sustain serious injuries or die, do so as a result of falling from what might be regarded as a low height. Indeed those industries outside of the construction industry are sometimes not as educated or aware of the risks of working at height as they should be, simply because they either don't recognise the risk or only work from height on an occassional basis.
This new Working from Heights E-Learning course contains the latest, most up-to-date and relevant information on the safety considerations involved with working at heights. The course identifies the dangers associated with working at heights and highlights the recommended safety procedures for dealing with these risks. EssentialSkillz course content is fully editable using the authoring tool, which has the advantage of enabling companies to edit any content that they want, to more closely reflect their internal requirements. Therefore, added details like specific on-site safety precautions, or a particular business address could be added to the pre-existing content to make it more relevant to the users.
Julian Roberts, Managing Director at EssentialSkillz described the importance of this course:
"This working at heights awareness E-Learning course allows employees to be trained in proper safety practices and in the use and maintenance of any equipment required to ensure they are working safely at heights. It also helps to raise awareness of the risks associated with low level falls and hopefully will improve risk perception of low level working at heights. The sad truth is workers are still getting injured or dying as a result of serious falls and the simple solution is they must be educated about the risks so that we can prevent these tragic accidents that still occur all too often in the workplace and are not just confined to the construction industry."