Here are two tips for industrial facility owners who are new to using height safety products in their facilities.

They should not stipulate a minimum height at which the height safety products can be used by their staff

Many industrial facility owners whose employees need to start working at heights will often advise their employees to use these products only when, for example, they're working at least 2 metres above the ground. However, it is much safer for industrial facility owners to encourage their staff to wear their height safety products whenever they'll be working above the ground, even if they'll only be, for instance, one metre off the premises' floor.

While this might seem overly cautious to some, the reality is that a fall from even a metre off the floor has the potential to leave a person with injuries (although these injuries are unlikely to be as significant as ones they could sustain if they fell from a much greater height). A seemingly 'small' injury that comes from falling from a relatively low height, such as a twisted ankle or a slipped disc, could still result in an employee having to get medical assistance and being unable to do any type of physical work for several weeks. If a person were wearing, for example, a lifeline and a harness while working one metre above the floor on a scissor lift and they stumbled, their safety gear would keep them in the equipment and there would be almost no possibility of them sustaining even a small injury. As such, owners of industrial facilities should strongly encourage their staff to use these safety products, even when working at seemingly low heights.

They should get multiple sets of height safety products

A typical 'set' of height safety products might include a harness, a self-retracting lifeline, several connectors and a safety helmet. Even if an industrial facility owner only expects one of their employees to need to use a set of height safety products at any one time, they should consider getting an extra set and then instructing them to rotate these sets.

This will slow down the speed with which each set wears out and requires replacement. Keeping an extra set on the premises will also mean that if there are some rare occasions when two employees need to work at a height at the same time, they can do so safely, as they'll each have a full set of height safety equipment they can use. Last but not least, if an employee damages their set of equipment and needs to finish off the work they were doing at a height, having access to an extra set will allow them to complete this work right away, instead of having to wait until the facility owner orders new equipment. 

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