Any company that employs personal to work at height in any place, including a place at or below ground level, is required to provide a safe and healthy environment for their employees. (Health and Safety at Work Act 1974).
Every company’s situation and reason to require a crash or safety mat can vary for many different reasons.
Safety mats may be required to prevent injuries to employees from falls at ground level or as low as 1 foot high from the ground. This may be because the weather conditions or working environment is partial to slips, trips and falls. Or the surrounding area is particularly hazardous to work in.
We recommend that any company that employs personal to work at a height of 1 metre or higher make it compulsory to provide there employees with a safety landing rig such as a crash mat if a handrail is not in place.
This includes, but is not limited to, professions such as:
Unloading and loading a vehicle
Roof workers
Tower climbing
Solar panel and glass/glazing installation
Telecommunications maintenance
Window cleaning
Gutter cleaning
Putting up displays
Excavating
Shelf stacking
Machine maintenance
Regulation 5 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states that employers must ensure all employees engaged in any work at height activity must be competent to do so.
