Safe Together: Working at height - dropped water bottle

Description of Incident

A rope access technician working at height on a communications tower stopped work to allow two workers to enter the Restricted Zone below to perform visual checks at

ground level.

While waiting, the rope access technician reached for their tethered water bottle to move it. They unhooked one clip of the tether and when disconnected on one end, the

bottle (weighing 0.5 kg) slipped off the tether and fell approximately 49 metres, landing within the internal footprint of the tower.

The two workers were standing in the Restricted Zone on the opposite side of the tower, approximately 7 metres away from where the water bottle hit the ground.

Neither person was injured. DROPS calculations rate the potential consequence as fatal.

To view this Safer Together alert in full and download the Step Change in Safety Verifications of Learning and Feedback Form, click 'Download Alert' button above.