Resources
August 2008
Welcome to August's Faith in Maintenance monthly email bulletin. Every month we will be sending you a short reminder of some of the things that you might do to make sure that your place of worship is in tiptop condition.
As August is the time for summer holidays
and the recent sunny weather has put most of us off doing anything too
energetic, the Faith in Maintenance team reckon that you all deserve a month
off doing maintenance tasks (though you might keep an eye on your gutters and
drains to make sure that they are coping with those heavy thunder
showers!).
Instead we're going to tackle one of those issues that many volunteers worry about - working at height.
Assessing
the risk
Before undertaking an inspection or carrying out routine maintenance tasks, you should consider carrying out a risk assessment. Risk assessment is nothing more than a careful examination of the situations that could potentially cause harm to people. It enables you to weigh up whether or not you have taken enough precautions to prevent harm or to reduce the risk of an accident happening.
There are five basic steps to risk assessment:
- Identify the hazards.
- Decide who might be harmed and how.
- Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions.
- Record your findings and implement them.
- Review your assessment and update it if necessary.
When carrying out your risk assessment, remember that a hazard is anything that may cause harm, such as chemicals, electricity or working from ladders. The risk is the chance or likelihood (high or low) that somebody could be harmed by the hazard, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be. Typical hazards that you might encounter whilst carrying out maintenance would include difficulty of access, slippery surfaces, fragile materials or toxic substances.
Risk assessment should be a practical
exercise, aimed at helping you to work safely.
The best advice is to keep it simple but make sure that you put your
findings into practice.
As part of your risk assessment you might need to think about how to get access to places where you need to carry out inspection or maintenance tasks safely.
This may include discussions with your architect or surveyor about providing additional handrails or works to address uneven steps, especially in towers. You might also need to think about emergency lighting or providing torches in case of a power failure.
The key point to remember is that if you have any doubts as to whether you can carry out a task safely - don't do it - seek further guidance or employ a reputable tradesperson. For specialist tasks such as those concerning electrical or heating services always engage a fully qualified professional.
Working
at height
The major health and safety issue encountered whilst carrying out maintenance tasks is working at height. The risks associated with working at height should therefore be taken very seriously and you should make every attempt to implement safe working practices. This means that you should think carefully about the methods you use to gain access to high level areas and what equipment you require to ensure your safety.
Many people mistakenly believe that the Health and Safety Executive has banned the use of ladders and stepladders. In fact, their advice is that for straightforward, short duration work stepladders and ladders can be an acceptable option.
However, they rightly point out that ladders
and stepladders would not be such a good choice for complex tasks lasting for
long periods. In this case, a short
duration is taken to be 15 to 30 minutes. It is always worth considering whether there
is a better way of gaining access, perhaps by using a tower scaffold or
mobile elevating work platform, although you might decide that this is not
justified because of the low risk and short duration of the work.
Ladders can also be used for low risk work where the nature of the site is such that there is no suitable alternative. As a rule, you should consider employing a contractor for any tasks that require working from ladders above one storey in height.
Alterative access strategies
For some places of worship, it may not be possible or realistic to consider carrying out maintenance tasks at high level without professional help. In recent years, a number of companies have developed techniques and equipment for inspecting buildings and carrying out remedial work at high level. Some of the most widely available systems are described briefly below.
Cherry
pickers: A ‘cherry picker' is a type of aerial work
platform, which is usually mounted on the back of a large vehicle. They consist of a basket on an hydraulic arm
and can be used in almost any situation where there is vehicular access close
to the building.
They are usually capable of being fully operated by a single person though there is often room in the basket for a second person if required.
Powered access platforms: A powered access platform is an alternative type of self propelled aerial work platform and can be used to gain access to locations inaccessible to conventional towed or vehicle-mounted machinery. Smaller units are capable of passing through doorways to be used internally to gain access to clerestory windows or electrical fittings for example.
Steeplejacks: Steeplejacks are craftspeople who specialise in working at height on tall buildings. Steeplejacks generally begin their work by using roped access systems to gain access to the spire or tower before erecting ladders and specialist scaffolding, such as work platforms (cradles) and the traditional bosun's chair (harness). Once the scaffolding is in place, they can work safely at high level.
Roped access specialists: Roped access specialists have taken some of the techniques and equipment developed for rock climbing and caving and adapted them to provide access to spires and towers. They normally use soft tape slings or padded ropes to fix their ropes to the structure in combination with specially designed safety harnesses. This allows them to move across and up and down the building to undertake survey or inspection work or to carry out essential repairs. If necessary, anchor bolts may be used to provide permanent fixing points.
Low-level aerial photography: If physical access is not possible or you simply wish to view the upper reaches of your building you could consider telescopic mast photography. A digital camera is fixed to the top of a telescopic mast mounted on an off-road vehicle, allowing precisely targeted photographs to be taken. Blimp or balloon photography is similar, although the use of a balloon means that it can be employed in locations that are inaccessible to normal vehicles.
Read our High Level Access case study here.
Further
help and advice
If you are unsure about how to look after your place of worship or have any questions about issues related to maintenance and repair you can contact David John, our Technical Advisor, on the Faith in Maintenance Technical Advice Line. This service is normally available on Fridays between 9.30am and 3.30pm on 0207 456 0916. You can also visit our online bookshop, which sells the SPAB's range of Technical Pamphlets and Information Sheets as well as a selection of related conservation and repair titles and our newly published Good Maintenance Guide.
Remember that you can also log in to the Faith in Maintenance Forum to find our latest tips and suggestions. Share your own ideas and experiences by registering here.
News!
SPAB completes a successful working party at Ratcliffe on Soar!
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Building has always had a strong practical element to its activities and every summer we embark on a week long working party to carry out some much needed repairs to an historic building.
For the last few years we have been working at Holy Trinity Church in Ratcliffe on Soar carrying out plastering, re-pointing, limewashing and drainage works.
Take a look at this year's volunteers in action on our new Working Party page.
Draft Heritage Protection Bill Update! The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee published its Report on the Draft Heritage Protection Bill on 30 July drawing on more than seventy written submissions and two oral evidence sessions in its Inquiry. One of the interesting points the Committee picked up on is the need for preventative maintenance. In its report it suggests that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport should investigate the "potential to incorporate clauses within the Bill fostering the role of preventative maintenance of heritage assets before their condition requires statutory intervention to prompt repair." As the need for preventative maintenance was one of the points the SPAB raised in its written evidence we are very pleased to see that our comments have been taken on board. You can read the full Select Committee report here and also access the SPAB's written evidence here.
We hope that you have found this email bulletin useful. If you have any comments or suggestions on how we may improve this service please do get in touch with us using bulletin@spabfim.org.uk.
Sara Crofts Faith in Maintenance Project Director
Stave off decay by daily care ~ William Morris 1877
