E066:06 25 May 2006

Everyday actions like reaching for a mobile phone, or a cup of tea, could be risking the safety of trades people working at height, with falls from below head height injuring thousands every year at work.

TV DIY expert Tommy Walsh has today joined forces with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to launch Height Aware, a campaign raising awareness of the dangers faced by people who operate at relatively low heights.

A survey of 150 trade people, who were questioned on behalf of the HSE at a recent building exhibition, reveals that one in three admit to putting their safety at risk by answering their mobile phones while working below head height. The same proportion of people routinely overreach to avoid moving their ladders during low-level work, and one in seven of those surveyed even admit to reaching dangerously to pick up a cup of tea on the job.

Tommy comments,

"Reaching down from a ladder to answer a phone is asking for trouble. My advice would be to stop putting yourself in danger for the sake of a phone call.

"Even if you’re not that high off the ground, a simple fall could see you ending up in plaster or worse. It is impossible to underestimate the importance of this issue, and it makes absolute sense to take your safety seriously."

The survey also indicates that trades people routinely underestimate the risks associated with working below head height, believing it to be less dangerous than lifting heavy objects.

According to official HSE statistics, falling is the biggest cause of workplace fatalities. Last year, over 3,700 major injuries were recorded from falls at workplaces across the UK, with six in ten of those injuries coming as a result of working at below head height. Over the same period, 53 people died falling from a height at work, with seven of those working below head height.

Geoffrey Podger, Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Executive, comments,

"The dangers involved in working at such low levels may seem less obvious to employees or small business owners – which is why raising awareness of them is all the more important.

"Falls are preventable when work is planned properly, the risks are accurately assessed, and the correct equipment is used. Accidents cost businesses money, but for a smaller operator, it can cost you much more than that – it could cost you your business. Worst of all for the individual – it could cost them their life."

Nearly half of those questioned in the recent survey of trades people claimed to have nearly slipped or fallen in the past three months, highlighting the scale of the dangers facing people working at height.

For further information and to read about the business benefits of being height aware, go to http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls or contact HSE's Infoline on 0845 345 0055 .

Notes to Editors

For further information contact:

Pete Sigrist or Anna Digby-Bell
GCI UK
020 7072 4000

Denise Lewisohn
Health and Safety Executive
020 7717 6179

Public enquiries

HSE Knowledge Centre 0151 951 4000

HSE information and news releases can be accessed on the Internet www.hse.gov.uk/