Safety – all in a day's course
June 1st 2008 Providing staff with the ability to work in line with working at height regulations, a one
day health & safety course from the FWC, created with IOSH, is available now
The FWC (Federation of Window Cleaners) in conjunction with
IOSH, has recently launched it's newly accredited one-day
Health & Safety Course covering the use of waterfed poles and
portable ladders.With the aid of external support, FWC claims it has
created a no-nonsense, hands-on, practical and theory course
covering health & safety legislation, risk assessments, safe systems of
work and the use of waterfed poles and portable ladders.
The course has been written by experienced window cleaners and
will provide an externally recognised qualification, accepted by
employees, clients and health & safety professionals.
The course will
mainly be
delivered by the
Federation's own
trainers, but it is
also available for
companies to selfdeliver,
providing
their trainers have
the necessary
mandatory
training skills and
experience.
The FWC says this course is 'a must for all window-cleaning
professionals' and will provide staff with the ability to work safely and
in line with the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which apply to all
work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause personal
injury.They place duties on employers, the self-employed, and any
person who controls the work of others (eg facilities managers or
building owners who may contract others to work at height) to the
extent they control the work.
The regulations include a hierarchy for managing and selecting
equipment for work at height, and state:
Avoid work at height where they can;
Use work equipment or other measures to prevent falls where they
cannot avoid working at height;
Where they cannot eliminate the risk of a fall, use work equipment
or other measures to minimise the distance and consequences of a
fall should one occur.
The FWC's IOSH accredited 'Cleaning Windows Safely' course is
available as of June.The FWC believe it will provide organisations with
'a more professional image, improved business opportunities, lower
insurance costs', and that it will give 'peace of mind' that the company
is working in line with Health &
Safety regulations. For information
contact the number on the right. More articles from Federation of Window Cleaners: | 
