Health and Safety Executive

Working at height
A brief guide

Introduction

This brief guide describes what you, as an employer, need to do to protect

your employees from falls from height. It will also be useful to employees and
their representatives.

Following this guidance is normally enough to comply with the Work at

Height Regulations 2005 (WAHR). You are free to take other action, except
where the guidance says you must do something specific.

Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and
major injuries. Common causes are falls from ladders and through fragile
roofs. The purpose of WAHR is to prevent death and injury from a fall from
height.

This is a web-friendly
Work at height means work in any place where, if there were no precautions
version of leaflet
in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. For
INDG401(rev2),
example you are working at height if you:
published 01/14

■ are working on a ladder or a flat roof;

■ could fall through a fragile surface;
■ could fall into an opening in a floor or a hole in the ground.

Take a sensible approach when considering precautions for work at height.

There may be some low-risk situations where common sense tells you no
particular precautions are necessary and the law recognises this.

There is a common misconception that ladders and stepladders are banned, but
this is not the case. There are many situations where a ladder is the most suitable
equipment for working at height.

Before working at height you must work through these simple steps:

■ avoid work at height where it is reasonably practicable to do so;

■ where work at height cannot be avoided, prevent falls using either an
existing place of work that is already safe or the right type of equipment;
■ minimise the distance and consequences of a fall, by using the right type
of equipment where the risk cannot be eliminated.

Figure 1 gives further guidance and examples for each of the above steps to
help you comply with the law.

You should:

■ do as much work as possible from the ground;

■ ensure workers can get safely to and from where they work at height;
■ ensure equipment is suitable, stable and strong enough for the job,

Page 1 of
maintained
and checked
regularly;

Page 2 of
 Health and Safety
Executive

■ make sure you don’t overload or overreach when working at height;

■ take precautions when working on or near fragile surfaces;
■ provide protection from falling objects;
■ consider your emergency evacuation and rescue procedures.

Who do the Regulations apply to?

If you are an employer or you control work at height (for example if you are
a contractor or a factory owner), the Regulations apply to you.

How do you comply with these Regulations?

Employers and those in control of any work at height activity must make sure
work is properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people. This
includes using the right type of equipment for working at height.

Low-risk, relatively straightforward tasks will require less effort when it comes to
planning. Employers and those in control must first assess the risks. See the risk
assessment website for more advice at www.hse.gov.uk/risk/risk-
assessment.htm.

Take a sensible, pragmatic approach when considering precautions for work at

height. Factors to weigh up include the height of the task; the duration and
frequency; and the condition of the surface being worked on. There will also be
certain low-risk situations where common sense tells you no particular
precautions are necessary.

How do you decide if someone is ‘competent’ to work at height?

You should make sure that people with sufficient skills, knowledge and
experience are employed to perform the task, or, if they are being trained, that
they work under the supervision of somebody competent to do it.

In the case of low-risk, short duration tasks (short duration means tasks that
take less than 30 minutes) involving ladders, competence requirements may be
no more than making sure employees receive instruction on how to use the
equipment safely (eg how to tie a ladder properly) and appropriate training.
Training often takes place on the job, it does not always take place in a
classroom.

When a more technical level of competence is required, for example drawing up a

plan for assembling a complex scaffold, existing training and certification schemes
drawn up by trade associations and industry is one way to help demonstrate
competence.

What measures should you take to help protect people?

Always consider measures that protect everyone who is at risk (collective

protection) before measures that protect only the individual (personal
protection).

Collective protection is equipment that does not require the person working
at height to act to be effective, for example a permanent or temporary guard
rail.

Working at Page 2 of
height
 Health and Safety
Executive
Personal protection is equipment that requires the individual to act to be
effective. An example is putting on a safety harness correctly and connecting it,
via an energy-absorbing lanyard, to a suitable anchor point.

Working at Page 3 of
height
The step-by-step diagram in Figure 1 should be used alongside all other advice
in this leaflet. You do not always need to implement every measure in Figure 1.
For example when working on a fully boarded and guarded scaffold that is
already up, not being altered or taken down, workers would not need to wear
personal fall- arrest equipment as well.

What are the most common causes of accidents when

working at height?

Roof work is high risk and falls from roofs, through fragile roofs and fragile roof
lights are one of the most common causes of workplace death and serious
injury. As well as in construction, these accidents can also occur on roofs of
factories, warehouses and farm buildings when roof repair work or cleaning is
being carried out.

The following are likely to be fragile:

■ roof lights;
■ liner panels on built-up sheeted roofs;
■ non-reinforced fibre cement sheets;
■ corroded metal sheets;
■ glass (including wired glass);
■ rotted chipboard;
■ slates and tiles.

Fragile roof accidents are preventable and information on safe working

practices can be found in the HSE information sheet Fragile roofs: Safe
working practices (see ‘Further reading’).

What do you need to consider when planning work at height?

The following are all requirements in law that you need to consider when
planning and undertaking work at height. You must:

■ take account of weather conditions that could compromise worker safety;

■ check that the place (eg a roof) where work at height is to be undertaken is
safe. Each place where people will work at height needs to be checked
every time, before use;
■ stop materials or objects from falling or, if it is not reasonably practicable to
prevent objects falling, take suitable and sufficient measures to make sure no
one can be injured, eg use exclusion zones to keep people away or mesh on
scaffold to stop materials such as bricks falling off;
■ store materials and objects safely so they won’t cause injury if they
are disturbed or collapse;
■ plan for emergencies and rescue, eg agree a set procedure for evacuation.
Think about foreseeable situations and make sure employees know the
emergency procedures. Don’t just rely entirely on the emergency services
for rescue in your plan.
Figure 1 Step-by-step diagram

Can you AVOID working Can you PREVENT a

Can you MINIMISE
at height in the first fall from occurring? Using ladders and stepladders
the distance and/or
place?
If NO, go to MINIMISE consequences of a
If NO, go to PREVENT fall?

For tasks of low risk and short

You can do this by: duration, ladders and stepladders
Do as much work as possible can be a sensible and practical
If the risk of a person falling remains,
from the ground. ■ using an existing place of option.
you must take sufficient measures to
work that is already safe, eg a minimise the distance and/or
Some practical examples include: non- fragile roof with a If your risk assessment determines it
consequences of a fall.
permanent perimeter guard is correct to use a ladder, you should
■ using extendable tools from rail or, if not further MINIMISE the risk by making
Practical examples of collective
ground level to remove the ■ using work equipment to sure workers:
protection using work equipment to
need to climb a ladder prevent people from falling minimise the distance and
■ installing cables at ground level ■ use the right type of ladder
consequences of a fall:
■ lowering a lighting mast to Some practical examples of for the job
ground level collective protection when using an ■ are competent (you can
■ safety nets and soft landing
■ ground level assembly of existing place of work: provide adequate training
systems, eg air bags, installed close
edge protection and/or supervision to help)
to the level of the work
■ a concrete flat roof with existing ■ use the equipment provided
edge protection, or guarded safely and follow a safe system
An example of personal protection
mezzanine floor, or plant or of work
used to minimise the distance and
machinery with fixed guard rails ■ are fully aware of the risks
consequences of a fall:
around it and measures to help control
them
■ industrial rope access, eg working
Some practical examples of
on a building façade
collective protection using work Follow HSE guidance on safe use
■ fall-arrest system using a
equipment to prevent a fall: of ladders and stepladders at
high anchor point
www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/
■ mobile elevating work index.htm
platforms (MEWPs) such as
scissor lifts
■ tower scaffolds
■ scaffolds

An example of personal protection

using work equipment to prevent a
fall:

■ using a work restraint (travel

restriction) system that prevents
a worker getting into a fall
position
For each step, consider what is reasonably practicable and use ‘collective protection’ before ‘personal protection’
 Health and Safety
Executive

How do you select the right equipment to use for a job?

When selecting equipment for work at height, employers must:

■ provide the most suitable equipment appropriate for the work (use Figure 1
to help you decide);
■ take account of factors such as:
■ the working conditions (eg weather);
■ the nature, frequency and duration of the work;
■ the risks to the safety of everyone where the work equipment will be used.

If you are still unsure which type of equipment to use, once you have considered
the risks, the Work at height Access equipment Information Toolkit (or WAIT) is a
free online resource that offers possible solutions. It provides details of common
types of equipment used for work at height. HSE has also produced a guide on the
safe use of ladders and stepladders (see ‘Further reading’).

How do you make sure the equipment itself is in good condition?

Work equipment, for example scaffolding, needs to be assembled or installed

according to the manufacturer’s instructions and in keeping with industry
guidelines.

Where the safety of the work equipment depends on how it has been installed or
assembled, an employer should ensure it is not used until it has been inspected in
that position by a competent person.

A competent person is someone who has the necessary skills, experience and
knowledge to manage health and safety. Guidance on appointing a competent
person can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/competence.

Any equipment exposed to conditions that may cause it to deteriorate, and result in
a dangerous situation, should be inspected at suitable intervals appropriate to the
environment and use. Do an inspection every time something happens that may
affect the safety or stability of the equipment, eg adverse weather, accidental
damage.

You are required to keep a record of any inspection for types of work equipment
including: guard rails, toe-boards, barriers or similar collective means of
protection; working platforms (any platform used as a place of work or as a
means of getting to and from work, eg a gangway) that are fixed (eg a scaffold
around a building) or mobile (eg a mobile elevated working platform (MEWP) or
scaffold tower); or a ladder.

Any working platform used for construction work and from which a person could fall
more than 2 metres must be inspected:

■ after assembly in any position;

■ after any event liable to have affected its stability;
■ at intervals not exceeding seven days.

Where it is a mobile platform, a new inspection and report is not required

every time it is moved to a new location on the same site.

You must also ensure that before you use any equipment, such as a MEWP,
which has come from another business or rental company, it is accompanied by
an indication (clear to everyone involved) when the last thorough examination has
been carried out.
Working at Page 5 of
height
What must employees do?

Employees have general legal duties to take reasonable care of themselves and
others who may be affected by their actions, and to co-operate with their employer
to enable their health and safety duties and requirements to be complied with.

For an employee, or those working under someone else’s control, the law says they
must:

■ report any safety hazard they identify to their employer;

■ use the equipment and safety devices supplied or given to them properly, in
accordance with any training and instructions (unless they think that would
be unsafe, in which case they should seek further instructions before
continuing).

You must consult your employees (either directly or via safety representatives), in
good time, on health and safety matters. Issues you must consult employees on
include:

■ risks arising from their work;

■ proposals to manage and/or control these risks;
■ the best ways of providing information and training.

Employers can ask employees and their representatives what they think the
hazards are, as they may notice things that are not obvious and may have
some good, practical ideas on how to control the risks. See the worker
involvement website for more information on consulting
employees (www.hse.gov.uk/involvement).

What must architects and building designers do?

When planning new-build or refurbishment projects, architects and designers

have duties under The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, to
consider the need for work to be carried out at height over the lifespan of a
building, eg to clean, maintain and repair it. They should design out the need to
work at height if possible.
 Health and Safety
Executive

Further reading

HSE’s website provides more advice, guidance and answers to frequently

asked questions. Industries and trade associations have produced guidance
about working at height for specific jobs or for using certain types of access
equipment.

Find out more at www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/index.htm

You can access the Work at height Access equipment Information Toolkit
(WAIT) at www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/wait/index.htm

Using ladders and stepladders safely: A brief guide Leaflet INDG455 HSE
Books 2014 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg455.htm

Health and safety in roof work HSG33 (Fourth edition) HSE Books
2012 ISBN 978 0 7176 6527 3
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg33.htm

Further guidance on risk assessment can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/risk

Further information about CDM and design requirements can be found

at www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm.htm

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 SI 2005/735 The Stationery Office

2005 www.legislation.gov.uk

Fragile roofs: Safe working practices General Information Sheet GEIS5 HSE
Books 2012 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/geis5.htm

Further information

For information about health and safety, or to report inconsistencies or

inaccuracies in this guidance, visit www.hse.gov.uk. You can view HSE guidance
online and order priced publications from the website. HSE priced publications
are also available from bookshops.

This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the
guidance is not compulsory, unless specifically stated, and you are free to take
other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing enough
to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance
with the law and may refer to this guidance.

This leaflet is available at www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg401.htm.

© Crown copyright If you wish to reuse this information visit

www.hse.gov.uk/copyright.htm for details. First published 01/14.

Published by the Health and Safety Executive 01/14 INDG401(rev2) Page 7 of