Working At High Level

[loulou111]

Hi just a quick question. I work as a house keeper and have been asked to wash some curtains. Its an old property and the windows are huge. Not sure height but if you can imagine a ladder a window cleaner would use to clean upstairs in a house, the height would be the bottom of the top window. Im not keen to do this im not great with heights. However the boss is insistant can i do anything to throw at his lordship health and saftey related. He has offered to hold the bottom of the ladder. Gee i feel so safe because of the gesture (not)

[fiction-factory]

I recall once having to read some 'working at heights' regulations

[fiction-factory]

http://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/height.htm.
Going to sign off for a while after the dreadful news re mikey

[ladybirder]

Could you say you'll do it if someone else takes them down and puts them back again afterwards? I hate heights so know how you feel. If you fell surely he would be liable especially as you've made it known you are nor happy about doing it.
And if you do fall make sure you fall on His Lordship;-)

[Hopkirk]

I agree with Ladybirder. Just say no.

Say you will clean the curtains, but won't take them down.

Offer to hold the ladder for him while he does it.

[twix123]

ff's link didn't work, but the following link is the HSE guide:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg401.pdf

Without reading it, if I remember rightly from a friend who had to undergo various safety courses, you should either use a tower assembly, or a ladder properly secured so that it cannot slip away, together with a safety harness attached to a proper fixture.
Has your boss carried out a safety assessment?

[alavahalf]

Having spent many years in property maintenace and having to go on countless refresher courses .. Until your employer puts you on a working at Height course, they are liable for any accidents or injuries you receive whilst in the work place.
Once you have attended and signed to say you understand what the course was about .. the liability then transfers over to you as your employer has done their bit .. in having you trained.
At that point you then have to be aware what working at height means.. it means working with one foot off the ground.
At no point can you use an open ladder when working alone. The ladder should be footed by an assistant and at all times the person on the ladder must have 3 points of contact. This makes using handtools and removing curtains etc. almost impossible. The only way around working with both hands free is too have a platform which should be provided and errected by a competent person. The platform should have a solid rail around it 1 metre above the platform surface.(so as you can attach your harness .. another course).
Basicaly to change a lightbulb you need a platform and not ladders.
It is not your responsibility to climb ladders and put yourself at risk .. advise your employer of the consequences without training. If you think that there may be any repercussions, take notes of what and when things were said relating to the issue..

One of the last jobs I did where an incident on a ladder had just happened was .. an active lady in her early 70's had decided to help her disabled neighbour by removing grass from his bungalows gutters. She had only got to the third step and the ladder skewed away as she reached across ... he visited her in hospital, adopted her dog and now goes to see her in the nursing home.
She had received serious head injuries falling from less than a metre high ... be warned.