PASMA launches tower safety campaign
02 May 2014
The UK’s Prefabricated Access Suppliers’ and Manufacturers’ Association (PASMA) used a recent industry event to launch a new campaign on the dangers of using unsafe towers for working at height.
PASMA launched its campaign at the Health and Safety Event in Birmingham in March 2014. It aims to show the importance of only using properly assembled towers and those certified to the European standard BS EN1004. The campaign pushes the message that, “Your life or the lives of others may depend on using the right tower. ”
The campaign follows the UK’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE) blitz of construction sites throughout 2013, which saw month-long spot checks. During September 2013 more than 1000 sites – almost half of those visited – were failing to meet basic safety standards including failures related to the work at height equipment used.
Peter Bennett, PASMA’s managing director, said, “Dangerous work at height is far more common than it has to be, as using safe equipment can prevent many of the issues that repeatedly come up, such as not fitting proper platforms and guardrails. Simply using an EN1004 tower can make all the difference when it comes to a site’s safety.
“This campaign aims to show that this isn’t just about fines and figures, but about lives. Falling from height kills more people than anything else in the workplace, which is why it warns people using towers that their lives and the lives of others may depend on only buying or hiring a safe tower.”
PASMA has added a new scaffold towers section to its website as part of the campaign. It outlines the facts about how dangerous unsafe work at height is, and gives simple and practical advice about how to keep safe, as well as offering a free Tower Safety Pack filled with essential information on buying and maintaining a tower.
