Falling from a height accounted for as many as 46 deaths and over 3,350 injuries in 2006 in the UK, the single largest cause of workplace accidents.

Some examples from 2010 include a 57-year-old man who suffered a broken leg and crushed ankle when he fell eight feet onto concrete while dismantling shelving, a 43-year-old worker who fell to his death when a safety railing failed while was working on a new building and whose company was fined a total of £160,000, and another construction company and its director were fined a total of £30,000 after a worker suffered serious injuries after falling almost ten meters from scaffolding at a construction site.

The EC is currently introducing new directives to toughen safety standards in an effort to reduce the number of accidents.

It is clear, however, that if workers are going to work at height, as is the case with both high-level cleaning and construction work, they must be properly trained, risk assessments must be carried out, and there must be safe security. .

The Work at Height Regulations apply to all work at height in which there is a risk of falling that could cause personal injury. They put duties on anyone who controls the work of others, both employers and self-employed workers.

It is the responsibility of these people to ensure that all work at height is properly planned and organized. This also includes paying attention to weather conditions that may endanger health and safety.

Managers must also ensure that those involved in working at heights are trained and competent, and that the place where the work is to be carried out is safe.

Any equipment must be properly inspected and the risks from fragile surfaces and from falling objects must be properly controlled.

This means evaluating the height of the work from the ground, the type of surface access equipment it will be placed on, and whether it is robust enough to support the weight of workers and their equipment.

Obviously, the ground conditions below the area where the access equipment is to be installed and the access equipment itself are also important. In some circumstances, weather conditions will also play a part

Employers must also ensure that proper records of all actions taken are kept and are kept safe from loss and unauthorized interference so that a hard copy can be provided when required.

Periodically all buildings need high-level cleaning, especially if they have high ceilings and your activities over time will mean that deposits of dust, smoke or grease will eventually build up to a level where they could fall on people and the teams that work below.

However, with all the health and safety requirements in mind, it would be wise for a company that needs high-end cleaning to perhaps leave it to a specialist commercial cleaning company that has the knowledge and experience to do it all right.

Even then, the company awarding the contract must ensure that it has copies of all relevant documentation and must take steps to ensure that its own personnel are not put at risk during such work.

Copyright (c) 2010 Alison Withers