New HSC Regulations 'May Cause Safety Risk'

The British Mountaineering Council is very concerned over the latest draft of the HSC's Work at Heights Regulations.

'As they stand.' says the BMC, 'The regulations pose a major threat to adventurous activities and may cause a safety risk to professional climbers and cavers.

Despite two years of consultations between the HSC and representatives from the outdoors adventure industry, the latest draft contains rigid measures that the organisation believes will hamper the work of instructors and, in time, may create a generation of climbers trained in a rigid and inflexible way which isn't appropriate to real life climbing situations. All 'hazards', for example, must be sign-posted and a double rope system must be used at all times.

The heart of the problem is that the new code is designed to cut deaths in the construction and window cleaning industry's, where there's an annual death toll - says the Council - of 68-106 people per year, but will also be applicable to professional climbing instructors working at height.

The BMC concludes that 'attempting to apply such regulations to a sport where being at height is a fundamental aspect of the sport must be fully resisted.' A meeting of 45 outdoors activity industry professionals in January was held to develop a co-ordinated response to the draft and discussions with the HSC are apparently ongoing.

You can see the full document at this web page the deadline for comments to be submitted is 2 April. Below is the full BMC release concerning the regulations.

HSE Work at Height Regulations - Important Update - by The BMC

The latest draft of the HSC's Work at Heights Regulations was published in December and despite over 2 years of consultation with HSC by representatives from the Adventure Activities industry, the regulations address none of the concerns raised by those within the industry. As they stand the regulations pose a major threat to adventurous activities and may cause a safety risk to professional climbers and cavers.

On 15 January 45 representatives from across the Adventure Activities Industry met at Plas y Brenin to examine the current situation and develop a unified response to the HSC's consultation. Within the regulations a number of specific requirements threaten the essence of adventure activities and are at odds with current accepted best practice. These include:

- The basic imperative to avoid being at height conflicts with adventure activities, not helped by industrial solutions (scaffolding-raised platforms-ladders) that leave the use of ropes as a last resort.

- A prescriptive double rope system that caving and climbing do not use when abseiling, lowering or ascending ropes.

- Every workplace is treated as a managed environment in which managers control access.

- Warning signs are required for each hazard.

- Unstable or fragile surfaces must be reinforced (snow and ice) and warning signs deployed.

- Consideration of whether it was suitable to work in certain weather conditions.

- Rescue must be immediate raising the question of whether it is acceptable for instructors to work alone.

Questions still have to be answered as to whether the regulations only apply to employees and the self employed or whether they include the clients.

While the regulations will only apply to those working within the industry (instructors and Guides), unless exemption is granted or considerable changes made to the regulations, it is felt that in time this could have considerable implications for the sport in general. Under these regulations anyone learning to climb on a course would see their instructor employing prescriptive rigid systems that differed greatly from the systems and techniques the instructor was trying to impart.

This could easily lead to confusion and the belief that the methods used by the instructor must be the safest. As more people were introduced to the sport in this manner the problem would grow. It could also lead to further insurance problems as insurance companies again wrongly assume that these regulations represent the safest systems to use in all instances. These regulations were designed and aimed at the construction and window cleaning industry, which has an annual death toll of between 68 and 106 people a year. Any improvement in such accident rates can only be welcomed but attempting to apply such regulations to a sport where being at height is a fundamental aspect of the sport must be fully resisted.

The Plas y Brenin meeting decided to continue the dialogue with HSE to seek exemption together with taking advice on alternative solutions. The group also decided to ask everybody concerned to lobby government through their members of parliament pointing out these areas of concern and highlighting the contribution made to the countries health and wealth by adventure activities and the threat that the draft regulations pose.

The full document is available at www.hse.gov.uk/condocs and asks for views to be submitted by 2 April 2004.The regulations will pass through Parliament on July 19.