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LANDSCAPING FEATURE

Safety harness and equipment for working at heights.
Photo courtesy of Delta Health and Safety

HEALTH AND SAFETY IN

LANDSCAPING

Park Central, a 21 storey building in Rosebank, Johannesburg, was featured in the previous
issue of Landscape SA. Its height, and the risks associated with working at these levels,
prompted the article below in terms of landscapers’ physical fitness, their ability to work
at heights and the safety equipment required.

I n a landscaping context, health and Medical checks history (past or present), asthma, TB or
shortness of breath. The medicals have
safety can comprise the following:
physical and psychological fitness of
the Construction Regulations GNR.84 of 7
• working at heights (including tree Medical checks are vital to assess the to be conducted as per Annexure 3 in
felling and the use of ladders); people working at heights, and are February 2014.
• working with herbicides, chemicals and carried out only by occupational health
toxic substances that can be inhaled; practitioners, taking the following into Falling from heights
• construction-related aspects such as account:
excavation work for gabions; • a history of experiencing black-outs; Comsaf Pty Ltd, based in Gauteng, caters
• machinery and equipment such as • a history of epileptic seizures; to the commercial, industrial and retail
chainsaws and brush cutters that have • a fear of heights and associated vertigo; sectors, providing solutions to meet the
the potential to inflict harm if used • impaired limb function; needs of health and safety compliance.
incorrectly; • alcohol or drug dependence; They conduct site and premises audits and
• exposure to snakes when working in • health reasons such as high blood inspections, and also assist with health and
game reserves or bush areas; pressure, heart disease, diabetes; safety system implementations training
• skin cancer resulting from excessive • regular medication taken by the worker; courses. Experienced practitioners assist
exposure to harsh sunlight. and with all health, safety and legal compliance
• a history of psychiatric illness. issues.
This article will focus on working at
heights, which refers to any work where Other aspects of the medical examination According to Denise Vermaak, Compliance
a person could potentially fall and injure include strength of grip, co-ordination Practitioner at Comsaf, and Lorna
themselves, be it from a ladder, a roof top (assessed by a finger to nose exercise), Cockeran, Commercial Divisional Manager,
edge, a trestle, a scaffolding or overhead balance ability, rapid turning and hand falling from heights results in the highest
platform, an opening in the floor or at tremors. A worker’s physical fitness is also number of fatality rates for construction
ground level adjacent to an excavation. checked from the point of view of lung and landscaping workers. In legislation,
capacity – this takes into account smoking height is considered to be working in

22 Landscape SA • Issue 93 2020