There are many forms of employment that require access to high up places. Even in your general office or shop you may need to reach high shelving units. But one thing we have seen time and time again is injuries caused by employees being instructed to use stools or chairs to reach high places.
This can breach health and safety legislation as it can be a very dangerous thing to do – so let’s look at the law and your rights for making a claim for personal injury compensation if this has happened to you.
The Law
There is actually specific legislation for working at height, which is rather appropriately named The Work at Height Regulations. Working at height doesn’t mean you have to be 12ft above ground level – accessing anywhere that is too difficult or dangerous to reach without assistance can fall within this category.
The law is quite clear on what an employer’s responsibility is. The legislation cites that any tasks that involve working at height must:
- Be fully risk assessed to identify the dangers
- Only be carried out by suitably trained staff
- Be carried out using suitable work equipment to prevent an injury
A stool or chair may seem safe to stand on, but it isn’t what you’d call suitable work equipment for such a task. In fact, we have The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations which puts a duty on employers to ensure that any work equipment being used is suitable for the task at hand. A chair or a stool being used to access height falls within the category of work equipment.
Chairs or stools may not be stable enough to take your weight, or may not be stable enough to remain steady when trying to access areas at height when stood on. This is often not considered, but the principle is simple – chairs and stools for sitting on are not designed to be stepped on and used to access height. Proper equipment, such as ladders or a standing stool, should be provided and used.
So if you are instructed to use a sitting chair or stool to access somewhere at height and you fall because it is not suitable to be doing this, you may have a claim for personal injury compensation. If you are trained not to use chairs or stools but you choose to ignore this and you are injured, you will face difficulties making a claim though.
So if you are injured at work due to falling from a height when using a stool or chair as instructed, give us a call on 0800 634 75 75 for help and advice about making your claim for personal injury compensation today.
