Working at height

Your legal responsibility

You must do all that is reasonably possible to prevent anyone falling from a height. If you are responsible for work carried out at height, you must ensure that it is properly planned, supervised, and performed by competent individuals. This also means selecting and using the correct equipment for the task.

Which laws apply?

• The Work at Height Regulations 2005
• The Work at Height Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Reducing risk

When completing your risk assessments, you must consider all tasks that involve working at height where there is a risk of falling.

Think about whether the work can be carried out without the need to work at height. If this is not possible, you must use suitable equipment or other measures to prevent falls and to reduce the distance and impact of any potential fall.

Additionally, to reduce the risk, you must ensure that:

• you plan and organise the work to be as safe as possible
• you take account of weather conditions that could affect health and safety
• the staff involved are trained and competent
• the place where the work is carried out is safe
• the equipment is appropriately inspected before work starts
• risks from fragile surfaces are properly controlled
• risks from falling objects are properly controlled
• you plan for emergencies and rescues
• you take account of your general risk assessment

More information

See the HSE's Work at height or Working at height A brief guide, and for Northern Ireland, the HSENI's Falls from height guide.