Access Equipment, Cleaning Matters, June/July 2006
If the need to work at height cannot be eliminated, a secure means of access is essential. ESCA2000 says its eponymously named mobile access platform is the answer.
According to the company, a key to its success lies in its triangular footprint and ability to be moved safely by the operator whilst working at height. It can be moved without the operator having to climb down and requires no assistance or power.
The new Working at Heights Regulations apply the same restrictions to working at heights below two metres as have long been required at greater heights. To ignore the risks of falling no matter the distance potentially creates a serious breach of health and safety regulations. Over two-thirds of all height injuries result from falls below two metres.
The ESCA2000 achieves stability by virtue of its 4-point contact with the floor while the operator's working platform is well within the footprint of the base. The platform uses half metre stages of galvanised steel and can be erected from four to eight metre working heights. It promotes safe working and allows the platform, which will withstand weights of up to 250kg, to be positioned directly under or adjacent to the job to be carried out - negating the need for any unsafe over-reaching - a key issue raised in the HSE's new regulations.
Health and safety are a paramount feature of the ESCA2000. The unit conforms to both EN131 and HD1004 and has ISO9002 accreditation.
Northumberland County Council originally started off with one unit and now have sixteen in use in first, middle and high schools across the region - with its key benefit to them being total mobility so that it can be used for all sorts of jobs around the schools and also on uneven surfaces outside.
In areas where space is a premium, the traditional access towers took a long time to construct and dismantle. Forest Park Primary School in Stoke, after checking out all the usual 'multifunction' ladders found the ESCA2000 to be a major turning point in its need to access and maintain light fittings and provide the ability to decorate at a height of around 6 to 7 metres.
Not only did the school find a safe means of accessing the work platform, but more importantly, when at platform height, the unit was totally mobile and saved a huge amount of time not having to run up and down to reposition equipment.
Training of staff is done on site by the technical team - and on-going training for new staff as well as yearly servicing of the equipment is all part of the package provided by ESCA2000.
