Working at height
Working at height
Working at height remains one of the biggest causes of fatalities and major injuries in the workplace. Common cases include falls from roofs, ladders, and through fragile surfaces. ‘Work at height’ means work in any place where, if there were no precautions in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury (for example a fall through a fragile roof, down an unprotected lift shaft or incomplete stairwell).
There is no longer a defined distance that must be protected, instead those planning or working at height must decide if there is a significant risk of injury from a fall and protect against that fall. The risk assessment process is key to protecting those undertaking such tasks.
Working at height includes, but is not limited to, use of ladders, mobile elevated work platforms, scaffolding, use of step ladders and foot stools and so on. The council's arrangements for working safely at height are contained within MA50 - Working at heights
Common tasks that are undertaken across the council include:
- Attaching displays to a classroom wall
- Cleaning windows
- Accessing high shelving
- Working on roofs
- Cleaning gutters
- Recovering footballs from flat roofs
- Installing external lights
- Changing lightbulbs
What should managers do?
Managers/supervisors should make sure work is properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people with the skills, knowledge and experience to do the job. They must use the right type of equipment for working at height. The task should be planned around making the correct equipment available rather than “making do” with the equipment that is available.
They should take a sensible approach when considering precautions. Low-risk, relatively straightforward tasks will require less effort when it comes to planning and there may be some low-risk situations where common sense tells them no particular precautions are necessary, however in all cases, the risks will need to be fully explained to those undertaking the tasks.
Managers must make sure any activities that involve the feet of an employee being off the ground/floor have been assessed and that this assessment has been recorded.
Control measures
Employers should first assess the risks. Factors to weigh up include the height of the task, the duration and frequency, and the condition of the surface being worked on. Before working at height they should work through these simple steps:
- avoid work at height where it’s reasonably practicable to do so;
- where work at height cannot be easily 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
For each step, always consider measures that protect everyone at risk (collective protection) before measures that only protect the individual (personal protection).
- Collective protection is equipment that does not require the person working at height to act for it to be effective. Examples are permanent or temporary guardrails, scissor lifts and tower scaffolds.
- Personal protection is equipment that requires the individual to act for it to be effective. An example is putting on a safety harness correctly and connecting it, with an energy-absorbing lanyard, to a suitable anchor point.
Dos and don’ts of working at height
Do…
- as much work as possible from the ground.
- work off scaffolding/tower scaffolds/MEWPs in preference to working off ladders
- ensure team(s) can get safely to and from where they work at height.
- ensure equipment is suitable, stable and strong enough for the job, maintained and checked regularly.
- take precautions when working on or near fragile surfaces.
- provide fragile surfaces and those below a work area with protection from falling objects.
- consider emergency evacuation and rescue procedures.
Don’t…
- overload ladders – consider the equipment or materials workers are carrying before working at height. Check the pictogram or label on the ladder for information
- overreach on ladders or stepladders.
- rest a ladder against weak upper surfaces, e.g. glazing or plastic gutters.
- use ladders or stepladders for strenuous or heavy tasks, only use them for light work of short duration (for example a maximum of 30 minutes at a time);
- let anyone who is not competent (who doesn’t have the skills, knowledge and experience to do the job) work at height.
- Use scaffolding that has not been marked as complete.
- Use a MEWP if you have not been trained in its safe use.
A range of specific arrangements and guidance documents have been prepared for use across the council. These have been listed below, however the key document for all will be the safe system of work/ safe instructions on how to undertake these tasks safely. These documents must be readily available and the content understood by those allocated such tasks.
Further guidance:
