Working at Height Risk Assessment and Fall Prevention

Working at Height in Brief

Work at Height Regulations 2005 - avoid, prevent, mitigate
Any work where a fall could cause injury is covered, no minimum height
Equipment selected, inspected and used by competent people

Working at Height

Work at height is any work where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. That includes working on ladders, scaffolds, platforms, roofs, lift shafts, near open edges, on vehicles, and in any situation where a fall could cause harm - including through fragile surfaces or into excavations.

UK fatal injury statistics show that falls from height are consistently among the leading causes of workplace deaths. Most of those incidents involve short falls from ladders, steps, or low platforms - not the dramatic high-rise scenarios people picture when they think about work at height.

What Work at Height Law Requires

In the UK, the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (as amended 2007) set out a clear hierarchy for managing work at height. The duty-holder must:

Avoid work at height where reasonably practicable.
Prevent falls by using an existing safe place of work or suitable work equipment.
Minimise the distance and consequences of a fall if it cannot be prevented.

All work at height must be properly planned, supervised, and carried out by competent people. The regulations apply to any work at any height if there is a risk of a fall liable to cause injury - there is no minimum height limit. The regulations also apply to emergency and rescue work, and place specific duties on employers, self-employed people, and anyone else who controls the work.

Planning Work at Height

Planning is the foundation of safe work at height. The key questions:

Can the work be done from the ground? Extendable tools, long-reach cleaning equipment, tethered cameras for inspections, and remote access solutions all eliminate the need to work at height.
What is the safest access method? Permanent installed access, mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), scaffolds, and towers are generally safer than ladders and step ladders for anything other than short, light tasks.
What fall prevention is needed? Edge protection, guard rails, toe boards, covers, and netting prevent the fall from happening.
What fall arrest is needed? Personal fall protection systems (harness and lanyard) minimise the consequences if prevention fails - but require careful selection, secure anchor points, training, and rescue planning.
What about weather and visibility? Wind, rain, ice and poor light change the risk significantly.
What rescue arrangements are in place? A worker suspended in a harness after a fall must be rescued quickly - typically within 15 minutes - to avoid suspension trauma.

Equipment for Work at Height

Work at height equipment must be suitable for the task, properly maintained, and inspected at appropriate intervals:

Ladders and stepladders - suitable for short-duration, light tasks where a safer alternative is not reasonable. Must be inspected regularly and pre-use checks carried out each day.
Mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) - cherry pickers, scissor lifts. Must be inspected thoroughly every six months and operators must be trained and competent.
Scaffolds and towers - must be erected by competent people, inspected before first use, after any modification, after any event likely to have affected stability, and at intervals not exceeding seven days.
Personal fall protection systems - harnesses, lanyards, fall arresters. Must meet the relevant UK-designated standard, be inspected before each use by the wearer and at least annually by a competent person, and be used only with suitable anchor points.

Fragile Surfaces and Roof Work

Fragile surfaces - roof lights, asbestos cement sheets, older fibre cement roofs, and some types of translucent panels - are a particular hazard. Walking, standing, or working on them carries a high risk of falling through.

Specific controls include staying off the surface wherever possible, using crawl boards or roof ladders to distribute weight, installing perimeter edge protection, using harness and line systems with suitable anchor points, and clearly marking fragile areas. Fragile surface training is essential for anyone working on or near roofs of any age.

The one piece of advice I would give to any employer new to work at height is this - the risk is nearly always higher than it looks. People underestimate short ladder work, loading dock edges, vehicle access, and roof work on "just a quick visit". The HSE fatal injury statistics are dominated by falls that would not look dramatic at the time.

The second piece - training is not the same as competence. Someone who sat through a half-day course five years ago is not automatically competent for the work in front of them today. Competence means recent, relevant experience with the specific equipment and the specific task, backed by supervision and regular review.

And on MEWPs - the most common fatal MEWP accident is not the machine falling over, it is the operator being crushed between the basket and a structure above them. SGS (Safe Guarded Systems) and secondary guarding can prevent that, as can proper route planning and a spotter on the ground.

We looked at our work at height exposure across the site and found we could eliminate about 40 percent of it with long-reach tools, cleaning equipment that worked from the ground, and changing light fittings to LED so they needed replacing far less often. The remaining 60 percent was scaffolds, MEWPs and permit-controlled rope access - everything else we cut out.

Our permit-to-work system for any work at height above four metres has been a big help. It forces the planning conversation to happen before work starts, not after something goes wrong.

For anyone running an ISO 45001 system, work at height sits under Clause 8 operational control. The standard expects you to identify the hazard, assess the risk, apply the hierarchy of control, and maintain documented evidence of planning, supervision and competence. Auditors will look for permits, rescue plans, inspection records and training certificates that all tie together for each high-risk activity.

The documented information expected includes the risk assessments, the method statements (or safe systems of work) for specific tasks, equipment inspection records, and training and competence records for workers carrying out the work. It is also worth having the rescue plan written down rather than relying on verbal arrangements.

Practical Compliance Guidance

Section 7 of the IMS1 Manual covers the operational H&S management requirements including work at height. It frames work at height as an integrated part of the hazard management system, linked to risk assessment, planning, competence and equipment management.

The alphaZ documents below give you the policy, procedural guidance, risk assessments and training material for a compliant work at height arrangement.

alphaZ document	How to use it
ISO 9001 14001 45001 IMS Toolkit	The full integrated toolkit for ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001. Contains the procedural documents, forms and guidance needed to set up and run a compliant management system including work at height arrangements.
P76 Working at Height Policy	Sets out the organisation's commitment to managing work at height risk. Issue to workers as part of the wider H&S policy set.
PP-7-07 Working Safely at Height Policy Procedure	The policy-procedure document covering work at height planning, equipment selection, competence and rescue arrangements. Use as the written procedure for the management system.
PP-7-100 Health and Safety Policy Procedure	A single integrated H&S policy-procedure covering work at height alongside PPE, manual handling, risk assessment and the other core H&S topics. Use as an alternative if you prefer one umbrella H&S procedure over separate topic-specific ones.
GG-7-07 Working Safely at Height Guidance	Plain-English guidance for line managers and workers. Covers what counts as work at height, how to plan it, and how to use the equipment safely. Issue alongside training.
RA-HS01 Working at Height Risk Assessment	The general risk assessment covering work at height across the organisation. Tailor to your own tasks and environments and review when the work changes.
RA-HS43 Access Vehicles Working at Height Risk Assessment	Focused risk assessment covering work at height using MEWPs, access platforms and similar vehicles. Use alongside RA-HS01 where access vehicles are in use.
TT-7-07 Working Safely at Height Toolbox Talk	Briefing material for team meetings. Covers the key work at height points for workers and provides evidence of awareness training when signed.

Note - all the above files can be downloaded with an alphaZ subscription.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a minimum height for the Work at Height Regulations to apply?

No. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply to any work at any height where a fall could cause personal injury. The old "two-metre rule" was removed decades ago. A step off a loading dock, work on a vehicle bed, or even a deep excavation counts as work at height if a fall could cause injury.

Are ladders banned for work at height?

No. Ladders are allowed for short-duration, light tasks where a safer alternative is not reasonably practicable. The HSE guidance is that ladders are suitable for tasks lasting less than 30 minutes in any one location, where the worker can maintain three points of contact and carry only light tools. For longer or heavier work, a MEWP, tower or scaffold is expected.

Do harnesses need annual inspection?

Yes. Personal fall protection equipment (harnesses, lanyards, fall arresters and similar) must be inspected by a competent person at least every 12 months, and more often in heavy use or aggressive environments. The wearer must also carry out a pre-use check before each shift. Any equipment that has arrested a fall must be taken out of service and examined before any further use.

What is suspension trauma and why does it matter?

Suspension trauma is the medical condition that can develop when someone is left suspended motionless in a harness after a fall. Blood pools in the lower body, venous return fails, and the person can become unconscious or suffer serious injury within 15-20 minutes. Any work at height using fall arrest requires a rescue plan that can recover a suspended worker within that window - calling the emergency services alone is not sufficient.

UK Legislation

The following UK legislation is directly relevant to work at height. Organisations outside the UK should identify the equivalent legislation applicable in their jurisdiction.

Further Resources