Working at height

The Work at Heigh Regulations 2005 (WAHR) are in place to prevent death and injury caused by a fall from height. These regulations apply to all employers, or anyone who controls work at height in a workplace such as managers or building owners. Employers, and anyone responsible for working at height must prevent any unnecessary work at height where possible. 

Your employer, or anyone who oversees any work at height activity ensure that work is carefully planned, supervised, and carried out – including the correct use of equipment and any personal protective equipment (PPE).

Employers and those who oversee work at height must first assess the risks of working at height before carrying out any work. Where possible, they must avoid making employees work at height. If working at height cannot be avoided, your employer/the person who oversees work at height must:

• Assess all risks.
• Plan and assess the work to ensure it is carried out safely.
• Provide adequate training to all employees who are working at height.
• Ensuring everyone involved in all steps of working at height are competent.
• Ensure that the work environment is safe and where possible, includes features to prevent falls e.g., handrails.
• Provide suitable equipment to prevent falls, and PPE to reduce the risk of severe injury, as well as ensue they are used.
• Inspect and maintain equipment and PPE.
• Only allow working at height when weather conditions are safe.
• Create a plan in case a fall accident does occur.

Employees also have a duty of care of themselves, as well as others who may be affected by their work e.g., you must wear any PPE, or use equipment supplied by your employer for working at height properly and report any potential safety hazards to your employer.

If it is deemed there is a possibility of you falling and getting injured, you are working at height. It doesn’t matter how high up you are. 

There are many significant risks that come with working at height that can lead to severe accidents if safety procedures aren’t properly followed. Common causes of accidents when working at height includes: 

• Inadequate training (remember, you should only work at height by yourself when you are competent). 
• Insufficient equipment (such as harnesses, guardrails, or safety nets). 
• Improper use of equipment 
• Poorly maintained equipment (you should check any equipment before working at height and can refuse to work if you don’t deem it to be safe to use). 
• Unstable work surfaces 
• Overreaching  
• Overloading 
• Failure to identify risks (your employer is required by law to carry out risk assessments before you undertake any work at height to identify any risk). 
• Poor PPE or lack of PPE 
• Weather conditions 
• Human error (simple mistakes like forgetting to check your equipment before use can lead to injury). 

If you work outdoors, the weather is a key factor to consider when working at height. All types of adverse weather conditions should be considered when thinking about your safety. 

If you are expected to work at height outdoors, your employer should provide you with training – especially when working in adverse weather conditions so that you: 

• Know what to look out for. 
• Understand the risks. 
• Know when to stop working. 

Dangerous weather to consider includes: 

• Wind. 
• Rain. 
• Thunder and lightning. 
• Extreme heat or cold. 

While you don’t need an official qualification to work at height, you should only do it by yourself once you are competent (having the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to work at height safely for the work you do). This can be learned on the job, or in a classroom. This includes the use of ladders, stepladders and working on scaffolding. 

If you are required to use safety equipment such as a harness or PPE for working at height, you should receive training on not only how to use them, but also how to maintain them. 

If you are not yet competent and are expected to work at height, you should always work under the supervision of somebody who is to ensure the tasks are carried out properly and safely. 

At Community, we encourage our members to undertake safe working practices, including knowing how to properly work at height– that’s why we offer a course on working at height, designed to keep you and your colleagues safe in the workplace. If you are interested in taking these courses or sign posting your colleague(s), click here to contact our Community Learn team who will be happy to help.   

Employers can ask employees to use ladders and stepladders for work at height, but only once a risk assessment has highlighted that must be used, but also that using them is low risk. 

Employees should not use ladders or stepladders for longer than 30 minutes, and they should only be used where a safer alternative is not available. 

Ladders and stepladders should only be used in situations where they can be used safely e.g., they are level, stable and can be secured to ensure they cannot fall over. 

When using ladders and stepladders, employees should not be expected to undertake any strenuous work or lift anything heavy.  

When using a ladder, you should always be facing the ladder, and maintain a three-point contact with it (where either both feet and one hand, or both hands and 1 foot) are always in constant contact with it. Some work may be undertaken without holding onto a stepladder, but the risk must first be assessed).  

To use a ladder at work, you must be competent, or working under the supervision of a competent person. Competence can be demonstrated through training, practical and theoretical knowledge, as well as experience. This includes knowing how to: 

• Assess the risks of using a ladder/stepladder. 
• Know when you should/shouldn’t use a ladder/stepladder. 
• Identify what type of ladder/stepladder to use, and how to use it properly. 
• Check that the ladder/stepladder is safe to use. 
• Ensure that the ladder/stepladder is secure. 

This will entirely depend on what caused you to fall from a height, and whether the accident was your fault or not. You may be eligible to make a personal injury claim and receive compensation if:   

• Your employer was negligent.  
• Your fall was a result of employer negligence e.g., not supplying you with adequate equipment, or training.  
• If you were injured because of that fall.  

If you have sustained any injuries as the result of employer negligence, you may be eligible to claim compensation and personal injury. You should inform Community immediately if you intend to do this as our legal team may be able to support your claim and through the process. 100% of any compensation won will go directly to you. Find out more. 

We understand that you may be wary about being fired or treated unfairly if you make a personal injury claim against your employer because of a fall from working at height. If your employer attempts to dismiss you, or mistreats you because of your claim, they may make a claim to an employment tribunal under unfair or constructive dismissal. As with claiming personal injury, you should notify us immediately so we can provide legal support through the process.   

It is important to note that when a personal injury claim is made against an employer, it will be paid through their insurance. Making a claim will not leave your employer or workplace out of pocket.