WORKPLACE - 19.09.2011

Put it in the loft

The case

Swimming pool attendant, Stacey Paine (P), fractured her wrist when she fell through a roof while retrieving paperwork that was stored in a loft area. P lost her footing when walking along a roof beam to get to the files; she fell two and half metres on to the tiled floor below.

In court

Although P’s injuries were relatively minor, the HSE decided to take a closer look. Its investigation found that P’s employer, Kimbolton School (K), was negligent on the basis that it hadn’t identified and managed the risks associated with storing items in this area. The HSE prosecuted K for breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (WAHR). It was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,276.

Tip. This case proves that an accident doesn’t have to result in life threatening injuries before the HSE will investigate. So if there’s an accident on your premises which results in an injury similar to the one in this case, don’t be surprised to receive a call from an inspector.

Risk assessment

The HSE decided to act against this company because it felt that it hadn’t taken the safest option available. Instead, it asked staff to store items in an area which was blatantly unsafe.

Tip 1. Although it may seem excessive, when looking at storage, you must identify the safest option. For example, solutions that don’t require climbing ladders or walking along roof beams. Failing to do so constitutes a breach of the WAHR and the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.

Tip 2. Document how you’ve identified and controlled the hazards in your storage area in a risk assessment (see The next step).

So are lofts out of bounds?

Not at all. However, before you start packing them to the rafters your risk assessment should look at the following:

Tip 1. Do you really need to use this area? Putting items into a loft does create manual handling and working at height issues that could otherwise be avoided.

Tip 2. If it can’t be avoided, you must ensure that the area you choose is suitable. This means providing suitable access to the area - expecting staff to walk across narrow beams above a fragile roof is not good enough. Either the whole area or at least the walkways should be boarded.

Tip 3. Your storage solution shouldn’t increase fire risks. So if you have hot pipes or electrical cables running through the loft, you shouldn’t store any combustible material on top of them.

Tip 4. If you’re storing combustible items, e.g. paper, you should record where and how much material is in the area on your fire risk assessment documentation.

For a free sample risk assessment for loft storage, visit http://healthandsafety.indicator.co.uk (HS 10.01.02).