Airmat soft fall technology to make construction sites safer
Building company owner David Grigor is aiming to significantly improve height safety work on construction sites by introducing Fall Safe airmat soft-fall technology to New Zealand. Auckland-based Mr Grigor, owner of Grigor Construction Ltd, began researching soft-fall options to ensure his own worksites met the new Best Practice Guidelines for working at heights introduced by WorkSafe New Zealand. Now, having introduced the European Fall Safe modular airmat system to his own building projects, he is making the safety technology available for hire to other construction firms in New Zealand. Under the new WorkSafe rules all construction sites must have fall arrest systems in place for anyone working at height. “More construction companies are introducing soft fall options, which is good news,” said Mr Grigor. “However, most are opting to use nets, which are the cheapest option to purchase. “I looked into using the nets but felt that there are a lot of risks associated with them and, when used in residential house construction in New Zealand, they usually don’t meet safety compliance standards. “The most popular systems in Europe are the airmats and beanbags but the maximum height you can work above ground with beanbags as protection is 2.8m unless you double-stack them. “After a lot of research I opted for the Fall Safe system which has been in use since 1998 and is compliant for people working at heights up to seven metres.” Mr Grigor said that while the airmats are one of the most expensive safety systems to purchase, their long life expectancy makes them very affordable to hire and he now has 13,000sqm of them available for use in New Zealand. “It struck me that if I was insisting on the safest possible soft-fall solution for my construction sites then other businesses would want that too,” he […]