Master the equipment, methods and practices that keep you safe at height when working over an edge. We not only help you discover a personalised height access solution but tailor your course to suit your trade, ensuring your whole team gain complete theoretical and practical safety skills that have direct association to your daily activities.
Key Topics
Hazard Awareness
Equipment & Practices
Hierarchy of Control
Harness Training
Permanents & Temporary Anchorage
Intermediate Devices
Kit Care
Dropped Objects
Safe Work Methods
Who is it for?
This courses is aimed at the professional working at height operative, or for the person that requires a skill update or renewal. Every course is tailored to your unique working at height requirements and trade sphere.
Aftercare Access
Valid for 3 years
Recognised Certs & ID's
All Kit Provided
Please note: some details have changed since the creation of this video.
01 / Theory
Skyrocket your height safety knowledge.
The course begins by establishing a general awareness of the dangers of working at height and takes you on a journey through the methods, practices and equipment that together form your height access solution. We'll discuss what restraint, fall-arrest and work positioning mean and get you fully trained in the use of height safety harnesses, adjustable restraint and intermediate devices such as inertia reels, lanyards, lifelines, connectors and anchorage. You’ll then explore the fatal effects of suspension intolerance, take a brief look at rescue, discover how to perform pre-use equipment inspections and test-drive the latest tethering solutions for preventing dropped tools.
02 / Equipment & Work Methods
Use the right gear. The right way.
There are lots of ways to work at height. Understanding what equipment to use for different applications based on your access, scope of work and exposure is essential for your safety. You'll master how to select and use the right equipment for any job you do at height.
03 / Practical Exercises
Test your skills. In a live scenario.
The course concludes with a group practical session that tests your new skills in a live scenario where you’ll set up anchorage and—under the watchful eye of two professional instructors—practice using fall-arrest, restraint and lifeline systems in a variety of configurations required for your job at height.
04 / Height Safety Expertise
Your passport to competence.
Working at height is more than just wearing a harness. It's about fully understanding the risks, anchorage selection, equipment mechanics, usage and best practices. This course gives you the all the knowledge, awareness and practical skills that empower you to work safely at height.
05 / Course Equipment
All kit provided.
We provide our own projector, screen, laptop, props and a bag full of equipment to deliver theory lessons. We just need somewhere to teach. So if you're booking a course on your site, don't forget to arrange a training room that can hold the appropriate number of people.
Certification
Your license to work.
By completing this course you will be awarded with an industry
recognised Leading Edge license card and certificate.
The card is valid for 3 years and requires renewal after
the expiry date stated at the time of issue.
Foundations lays the groundwork for your training. We’ll discuss course
objectives and prime you with essential background knowledge on the
subject of height safety, covering the basics of why we need it, the
devastating effects falls have on individuals, families and businesses
and your general legal responsibilities and duties. By exploring
historical references, statistics and legislation we’ll paint — in real
terms — a picture of where we are today, how far we’ve come and how
far we still have to go to make the work place a safe place.
To have a meaningful discussion about height safety we need a
clear picture of the terminology and work methods fundamental
to all work at height. They fall into three distinct
categories: Fall Arrest, Work Positioning and Fall Restraint.
In DEP we break down and deliver detailed defnitions of all
three methods, demystifying what they mean, how they function,
the equipment that comprise them and the various ways in which
they can be utilised in a height access solution.
Before work at height can begin each task must be assessed for
risk and appropriate safety measures should be placed where
needed. To do this we’ll utilize the Hierarchy of Control
Measures, which outlines a step-by-step procedure to guide
your height access provisions. We’ll start at the top with
the safest possible procedure (avoiding the need to work at
height all-together) and move down the hierarchy with
progressively hazardous scenarios, giving you the knowledge to
conduct your own future assessments using the HCM.
Anchorage is the first and arguably the most important link in
the height safety chain. The challenge is knowing what
constitutes a safe anchorage point and how to select the right
anchorage device to connect with out of a myriad of different
options and confgurations. To help you understand we’ll start
by exploring permanent anchor points comprising of fixed
structures in your environment and move on to temporary
solutions. Finally we’ll talk in-depth about available
anchorage devices and analyse their specic uses,
configurations, ratings and certifcations, giving you the
theoretical knowledge to identify and set up suitable
anchorage for your height safety system.
Once you have an understanding of what arrest and restraint
methods are we take a deeper a look at intermediate devices,
which work together between your anchor point and harness to
form a height safety system. These include inertia reels,
lanyards, lifelines, connectors and anchorage. We walk you
through each device, demonstrating how they function, how you
use them, what their limitations and performance capabilities
are and the practices and work methods that enable you to use
them correctly in applications.
Throw it over your shoulders, clip it together, fasten the leg
straps and you’re good to go, right? Be under no illusions, a
damaged or incorrectly worn harness can lead to death, or if
you’re truly unlucky, extreme testicular trauma and rectal
damage! To prevent such a nauseating fate we’ll take you back
to basics, familiarise you with different types of height
safety harnesses and their various purposes, teach you how to
perform pre-use inspections and then get down to the nuts and
bolts of how to don and adjust it. At the end of the module
each of you will be provided with your own harness to practise
wearing, which will be then be assessed by the instructor to
make sure the whole team is competent and con dent before
moving on.
While we should do all we can to prevent falls, using arrest
and adjustable restraint systems mean the risk of a fall still
exists. We need to be prepared to conduct a swift height rescue
should one occur. In height rescue 101 we’ll examine the
physical effects of suspension intolerance and reflow syndrome
on the human body and demystify the law, revealing exactly
what you are required to plan and make provisions for. We’ll
then introduce you to the 3 main methods of height
rescue—lowering, raising and combined—to gain an overview of
how they operate, their requirements of use and their pros
and cons for the recovery of conscious and unconscious fall
casualties.
Working at height puts your life in the hands of your equipment,
so it’s in your interest to make sure your kit is t for use.
To ensure safety we’ll teach you the importance of frequent
kit inspection and outline the basic principles of product
and service life. We’ll then explore both the causes and
visual indicators of degradation on a variety of di erent
products, helping you keep your kit in good condition by
handling, storing and transporting it appropriately and
identifying damage when conducting daily pre-use inspections.
Dropped objects are a serious risk, and not just to people,
to anything below a work area where hand-held equipment can
fall. In Dropped Objects we have a frank discussion about the
problems associated with untethered tools, cover some
mind-blowing physics about the impact force even the tiniest
objects can generate, and lay down the law regarding
individual and company liability resulting from injury.
Finally we explore some tool tethering solutions available to
you today, so you can start to safely secure your tools at
height.
Exam
An independently marked multi-choice paper to test your knowledge.
Anchorage forms the foundation of your height access system and
any mistakes made here makes all subsequent efforts worthless.
In phase 2 You'll learn which anchorage devices to use and in
which configurations to place based on your work area and the
leading edge.
Fall arrest sytems increase mobility but the trade-off is they
allow you to fall. If that happens the blocks lock like a car
seat belt and (hence the title) arrest your fall. Because
falling is permitted caution is required, so we show you strict
rules and practises that enable you to use them safely for work
at height.
Higher up in the height safety hierarchy are Restraint Systems.
These systems offer the same level of access as Fall Arrest
Blocks but are considered a safer and more desirable method of
work since the use of ropes physically 'restrains' your
proximity to an edge. Restraint Systems are extremely versatile,
allowing for both front and rear connection in several
configurations across horizontal, vertical and pitched planes.
Some or all of which you'll discover and practice depending on
your course.
Lifelines prevent pendulum and provide greater levels of access
when working over large areas as the added use of a pulley
allows you to safely traverse the edge along which the lifeline
is set. You’ll learn how to deploy, position and tension a
lifeline, operate it using front and rear attachment across
horizontal and pitched planes, and explore more advanced
techniques such as lifeline bending for multiple edge access and
intermediate attachments to support multiple simultaneous users.
Lanyards are the most extensively used piece of equipment in the
height safety arsenal. It’s no surprise given their versatility
for preventing operatives from entering a fall hazard up to a 2m
edge distance. You can discover up to 5 different kinds of
lanyard to achieve a range of access from simple fixed locations
to climbing and the traversal of complex structures. This is
your chance to reaffirm lessons learnt during theory modules and
practice connecting to harnesses and anchorage while gaining the
invaluable ability to select the right lanyards for your
applications. We’ll continuously verify your competency along
the way!
Site Requirements
Practical exercises require three anchor points (columns,
railings, fencing, metal structures, rebar or anything
capable of supporting 300kg) placed at right angles and
spaced between 5 and 20 meters. Don't fret if site access
is unavailable. We strive to be as accomodating as possible
and can conduct practical lessons in car parks, fields and
classrooms when necessary.