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.
