Health & Safety in Christchurch's Heating Industry

Safety Conscious While Heating At Height

When it comes to heating and cooling in Christchurch, Heat Pumps NOW have proven the sky really is the limit! Thank you so much for choosing Heat Pumps NOW to keep you warm in chilly Canterbury.

The only issue when shooting towards the sky is staying safe with the right equipment. To make sure everyone at Heat Pumps NOW goes home at the end of each day, we talk to Mark Winter, Managing Director at Scaffold Solutions.

Everyone Should Go Home Safe

“You should really have scaffolding any time you’re working off the ground. A fall from over a metre can cause serious harm,” says Mark Winter.

“Ladders are ok for short durations like changing a light bulb or checking a smoke-detector, but installing a heat pump is definitely not a quick job,” says Mark.

Scaffold Solutions are Heat Pumps NOW’s preferred supplier of scaffolding and safety equipment. They’re locals with 5 trucks for providing fast and flexible service around the greater Christchurch area. They can service large scaffolding projects within a 5 day window, although they’re more flexible with smaller projects.

“On some commercial sites, building owners want the outdoor heat pump unit installed high-up on the side of the building or on the roof to prevent vandals or flooding causing damage,” says Blair Ashdowne.

“Mark and the team from Scaffold Solutions help us satisfy the building owner’s need for security with everyone’s need for health and safety,” he says.

“If the roof has a slope greater than 25 degrees, there must be a deck platform around the scaffolding.,” says Mark. “People who slip on steep roofs can really pick up speed on their way towards the edge. Flat deck platforms around the side halt the fall and save lives.”

​What’s So Important About Heat Pumps and Scaffolding?

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the new Health and Safety at Work Act, and what it means for different industries. It’s easy as a homeowner to think, ‘That doesn’t apply to me! It’s my home, not a work site!’ Sadly, that’s where you’re wrong.

The moment you ask a tradie, or anyone to fix or install something at your home, your house becomes a workplace. Under the new legislation, you’re considered a Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) which means you’re responsible for the health and safety of everybody involved.

How Do Heat Pumps And The HSWA Apply To You?

It’s your responsibility to ensure the tradies working on your house are experienced and qualified, and to follow their recommendations. Heat Pumps NOW are fully accredited Mitsubishi and Fujitsu heat pump installers with years of experience around Christchurch and greater Canterbury.

Scaffold Solutions are part of Scaffolding and Rigging Association of New Zealand, which means their team, gear, systems and processes are regularly inspected and audited to ensure Health and Safety compliance. They are Advanced Ticket Holders, which is the highest accreditation and certification you can have while working above the ground. By choosing us, you're covered!

Choosing accredited and experienced tradies puts the responsibility back on us to ensure there are no health and safety risks resulting from our work. So if Heat Pumps NOW recommends scaffolding to help us do the job, it’s because we know what we’re doing and want to protect our team and your family.

If there's an injury or fall on a worksite, everyone, including you is potentially liable. Worksafe and SiteSafe will launch a big investigation to see whether all practical steps had been taken to prevent the accident from happening.

Worksafe regularly visits ands polices sites to make sure everyone is complying with the law. No-one is too small to be exempt.

“If Worksafe see someone on a roof with with no fall protection, they can instantly close the site down and nothing will happen until the problems are fixed.” says Mark. I’ve seen it happen many times. One person’s careless action can cause big delays.”

Whether it’s your new home or an office building in Christchurch’s CBD, any delays are going to push the project over time and budget so it’s best to be health and safety conscious the first time around.

​The Penalties

Reckless conduct that exposes people to risk of serious injury carries a penalty of 5 year in prison, a $600,000 fine or both, while simply failing to comply with safety laws could result in a fine between $100,000 and $300,000. If we recommend safety measures, and you choose a heat pump installer who doesn’t, both you and the technician could be facing those hefty fines and prison sentences.

While avoiding fines and criminal charges are important, for Blair and Mark their primary Health and Safety concerns are about looking after their teams.

“It’s all part of raising the bar,” says Mark. “Health and Safety isn’t an overbearing burden, political correctness gone mad, or an arbitrary cost added to your invoice. It’s part of making sure everyone goes home at night, and always looking for ways we can keep improving.”

“Being Health and Safety conscious is part of Heat Pumps NOW’s wider vision for taking care of our community,” says Blair. “As well as taking care of our team, also we want you to be warm, dry, and safe after every encounter with Heat Pumps NOW.”

If you’re planning a new build, big renovation, or major DIY project around your Christchurch home, contact Scaffold Solutions to take care of all your safety needs. As always, for superior and safe heating and cooling, contact the team at Heat Pumps NOW for a free consultation and quote.