The employee asks: I work on a production line and have to work while standing on a platform next to the line. The platform is about 60 cm above the round and relatively narrow, about half a metre wide. It is difficult to work on it because I'm afraid I might fall off the platform if I step back. Should this kind of a workplace have barriers?
Rein Reisberg, Working Environment Consultant at the Labour Inspectorate, responds:
The regulations for work equipment and the workplace establish general principles to ensure safety. In accordance with them, work equipment, platforms, stairs, and other areas where the user is present during work must be equipped with barriers to ensure safety, and they must prevent slipping, tripping, or falling. The user must also be provided with safe access to and presence in all areas involved in the use of the work equipment, necessary for production, adjustment, and maintenance. However, the regulation does not stipulate the height at which platforms must have barriers.
When designing the barriers, it is recommended to follow the standard for means of access to machinery. It states that safety barriers must be used if passages or work platforms are more than 50 cm above the rest of the plane and there is a risk of tripping or falling. If the height difference between the work platform and the floor at your workplace is approximately 60 cm, there is a high risk of falling and causing health damage, and the use of safety barriers is appropriate. The safety barrier must be constructed in such a way as to prevent the person from falling.
The standard should also be followed in the case of safety barrier construction. According to the standard, the barrier must be a minimum of 110 cm in height, with a handrail at the top. There must be at least one knee barrier in the centre of the safety barrier. In addition, the barrier must have foot barriers with a height of at least 10 cm. The distance between the handrail and the knee barrier, as well as between the knee barrier and the foot barrier, should not exceed 50 cm.
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