Additionally, if we have a look at OSHA\u2019s most cited violations, the \u2018Duty to have fall protection\u2019 for the construction (29 CFR 1926.501)\u00a0is the most cited standard for 10 years in a row. From which we can deduct that many worksites either do not have fall protection or are not using their fall protection equipment properly.<\/p>\n
These statistics clearly show that there is much to win in the field of using fall protection, especially for the solar panel cleaning industry.<\/p>\n
![\"Unsafe](\"https:\/\/theisca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/unsafe-solar-panel-cleaning-1024x626.jpg\")
Unsafe solar panel cleaning practices like this are commonplace<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Here we discuss legislation and guidance for working at height and how this affects the residential arm of the solar panel cleaning industry.<\/p>\n The American health and safety organisation OSHA has numerous pieces of guidance for working at height.\u00a0 These are often quoted as referring to the \u2018employer\/employee\u2019 scenario, not for sole traders.\u00a0 In other countries such as the U.K. the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) can issue fines and even prison terms to sole traders who break health & safety codes.<\/p>\n Irrespective of the legality and risk of fines, the risks of working at height are increased for lone workers.\u00a0 There may be no one aware of a fall and no one nearby to help, should a fall occur.\u00a0 There may be no one around to help you if you are stranded or hanging after a fall.\u00a0 Worse still, if the fall incapacitates you via broken bones or if you are unconscious, the help you need is greater still if lone working.<\/p>\n So whilst Amercian OSHA regulations may only be enforceable by Law to employers and employees, the principles governing lone working and working at height still prevail, even to sole traders.\u00a0 The effects of gravity affect everyone in the same way and the effect of a fall should still be taken into account whilst working.<\/p>\n OSHA say plenty about working at height.\u00a0 Other health and safety bodies such as EU\/OSHA in Europe and HSE in the U.K. provide extremely similar guidance as that outlined below.<\/p>\n According to OSHA 1910.28(b)(1)(i) anyone \u2018on a walking-working surface with an unprotected side or edge that is 4 feet (1.2m) or more above a lower level is protected from falling by one or more of the following:<\/p>\n OSHA guidance is also equally as clear regarding work done at roof level when dealing with the distance from the edges of a roof:<\/p>\n To summarise, OSHA guidance states that were a worker is working more than 4 feet above a lower level and less than 15 feet from a roof edge, fall protection must<\/strong> be implemented. \u00a0This is the case on the vast majority of residential homes in America and other countries.\u00a0 Therefore, the \u2018Hierarchy of Control\u2019 should still be considered.<\/p>\n What Is The \u2018Hierarchy of Control\u2019? <\/strong><\/p>\n The hierarchy of control assesses the risk of working at height and encourages one to consider how to reduce the working at height risk on residential properties.<\/p>\n The Hierarchy of Control should be considered on residential jobs<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Step One:<\/strong>\u00a0 Eliminate working at height if possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n In the case of solar panel cleaning, 45\u2019-60\u2019 poles are commercially available to reach solar panels from ground level and provide an effective clean.\u00a0 This is the case for dusty, as well as more urban areas where traffic film may be the reason the panels are dirty.\u00a0 Where the pitch of the house roof allows for cleaning from ground level, this should be the cleaning technique of choice.<\/p>\n OSHA guidance cannot cover every eventuality in every segment of every industry.\u00a0 However, interestingly, the Canadian version of OSHA, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety (CCOSH) specifically mentions the following regarding accessing objects at height: \u201cUsing a device that allows the material to be handled from a safe location, (e.g. an extended pole to reach higher areas instead of using ladders).\u201d\u00a0 Like window cleaning, solar panel cleaning definitely fits into that category.\u00a0 Many solar panels can and should be cleaned from ground level wherever possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Hierarchy of Fall Protection should be considered for commercial and residential jobs<\/p><\/div>\n What if the solar panels cannot be reached from ground level?\u00a0 What engineering controls can be used to reduce works at heights?\u00a0 What administrative controls can be used to reduce risk?\u00a0 What PPE should be worn when cleaning solar panels?\u00a0 All of these questions are answered in Residential Solar Panel Cleaning Working At Height Guidance – Part 2.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Residential solar panel cleaning has the potential to require a lot of working at height.\u00a0 The more working at height you do, the higher the chance of a fall from height becomes. In a research paper based on 32 years of data from the\u00a0NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program\u00a0researchers found that 54% of workers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,72],"tags":[86,82,78,76,80,74],"class_list":["post-1445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","category-working-at-height","tag-health-and-safety","tag-ladders","tag-mewp","tag-osha","tag-scaffolding","tag-working-at-height"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1445"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1470,"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions\/1470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theisca.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Working At Height Health & Safety Legislation<\/h2>\n
What Do OSHA Say About Working At Height?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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![\"Hierarchy](\"https:\/\/theisca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Hierarchy_of_control_SimplifiedSafetyUK.jpg\")
![\"Hierarchy](\"https:\/\/theisca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Hierarchy_of_Fall_Protection_Web_640_453_65.jpeg\")