Summary
Falls from height kill more construction workers than anything else, year after year, and the falls that kill are rarely from tower cranes or high scaffolds. They are from ladders, from flat roofs, through fragile rooflights and asbestos cement sheets, off the back of vehicles, down stairwells and through unprotected openings. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 exist because these deaths are almost entirely a failure of planning, not a failure of nerve or skill.
The regulations are built on a three-step hierarchy that must be worked through in order. Avoid working at height altogether where you can — assemble at ground level, use extending tools, design the job so the height work is unnecessary. Where you cannot avoid it, prevent a fall — a properly built scaffold, a tower, a MEWP, an edge-protected platform. Where some fall risk still remains, minimise it — collective measures like nets and airbags before personal measures like a harness, and always reduce the distance and consequences. The mistake trades make is jumping straight to the bottom of the hierarchy: grabbing a ladder because it is in the van, when a tower or a different method was the correct answer.
There is a persistent myth that ladders are banned. They are not. A ladder is a legitimate access tool for short-duration, low-risk work where a risk assessment shows a more substantial platform is not justified. What is not legitimate is using a ladder as a workplace for a job that needs both hands, takes a long time, or carries a real fall risk — and then calling it "the way we've always done it".
Key Facts
- No minimum height — the regulations apply to any work at height where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury.
- The hierarchy — avoid work at height; prevent falls (collective then personal protection); minimise the distance and consequences of a fall.
- Collective before personal — guardrails and working platforms before harnesses; nets and airbags before personal fall arrest.
- Ladders are not banned — they are acceptable for short-duration, low-risk tasks where a risk assessment justifies it; the rough guide for "short duration" is around 30 minutes in one position.
- Three points of contact — maintain on ladders; do not overreach (belt buckle stays within the stiles); secure or foot the ladder.
- Fragile surfaces — fragile roofs (asbestos cement, rooflights, old liner sheets) cause fatal falls every year; assume a roof is fragile until proven otherwise and use staging, nets or covers.
- Inspection — scaffolds must be inspected before first use and at least every 7 days, and after anything that could affect stability (e.g. high winds, alteration); MEWPs and access equipment inspected per LOLER and the manufacturer.
- Scaffold competence — scaffolds must be erected, altered and dismantled by competent persons (e.g. CISRS-carded scaffolders) and to a recognised configuration or design.
- Falling objects — the regulations also require steps to prevent objects falling and injuring people below (toe boards, brick guards, exclusion zones).
- Applies to the self-employed — and to anyone who controls work at height done by others.
- Weather — work at height must not be carried out in conditions (wind, ice, rain) that endanger the workers.
Quick Reference Table
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Try squote free →| Method | Best for | Key requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Avoid (ground assembly, long tools) | Any task that can be redesigned out | First choice in the hierarchy |
| Tube-and-fitting / system scaffold | Longer-duration work, multiple trades, full access | Competent erector, handover tag, 7-day inspection |
| Mobile tower (PASMA) | Medium-duration work, internal/external | Built by trained person, stabilisers/outriggers, never moved with people on |
| MEWP (cherry picker / scissor lift) | Variable-height, occasional access | IPAF trained operator, ground assessment, harness in boom-type |
| Podium step / low-level platform | Short-duration internal work, ceilings | Guardrails, locked castors |
| Step ladder | Very short, light tasks | Fully open, locked, not the top two steps, no side-on work |
| Leaning ladder | Short-duration access/light work | 75° angle (1-in-4), secured/footed, 1m above landing point |
| Roof — fragile surface | Never as a walking surface | Staging boards, nets below, covered openings, edge protection |
Detailed Guidance
Working the hierarchy properly
The hierarchy is not a menu — it is an order. For every task involving height, ask in sequence:
- Can the work at height be avoided? Glaze a window at ground level before lifting it; assemble guttering on the ground; use a telescopic tool from the ground; cut and prepare materials below.
- If not, can a fall be prevented? Provide a workplace that is already protected — a scaffold with guardrails and toe boards, a tower, a MEWP, an edge-protected platform. This is collective protection: it works for everyone, all the time, without the worker having to do anything.
- If a fall risk still remains, minimise it. Collective fall-arrest (safety nets, airbags) before personal fall-arrest (a harness and lanyard). And in all cases, reduce the distance and the consequences.
A harness is near the bottom of the hierarchy for good reason — it relies on the worker clipping on every time, to a suitable anchor, with the right lanyard length so they cannot hit the ground or a lower level, and on a rescue plan for the person left hanging. It is the last resort, not the default.
Ladders — legitimate use vs misuse
Ladders are a tool, not a crime. They are appropriate for short-duration, low-risk tasks: the rough industry guide is up to around 30 minutes of work in one position, light work, where the worker can maintain three points of contact and a risk assessment shows a more substantial platform is not reasonably practicable.
Using a ladder correctly:
- Leaning ladders at roughly 75° — the 1-in-4 rule (1 unit out for every 4 up).
- Secure it — tie it at the top, or foot it; an unsecured ladder slipping at the base is a classic fatal.
- Extend it at least 1m above the landing point for access ladders.
- Maintain three points of contact and keep your belt buckle within the stiles — no overreaching.
- Step ladders fully open and locked, not used side-on for force, and not standing on the top two steps.
- Inspect before use — no bent stiles, missing feet, damaged rungs.
Misuse is using a ladder for a job that needs both hands for a sustained period, carries materials up and down repeatedly, or sits over a stairwell or other fall hazard. That is when a tower, podium or MEWP is the correct answer.
Scaffolds, towers and MEWPs
Scaffolds must be erected, altered and dismantled by competent people, built to a recognised standard configuration or a bespoke design, and not used until handed over and tagged. They must be inspected before first use, at intervals not exceeding 7 days, and after any event that could affect stability — high winds, an impact, an alteration. Do not adapt a scaffold yourself; if it does not suit the work, get the scaffolder back.
Mobile towers must be assembled by someone trained (PASMA or equivalent), with the stabilisers or outriggers fitted as specified, on firm level ground, and never moved with anyone or anything on the platform.
MEWPs (cherry pickers, scissor lifts) need a trained operator (IPAF or equivalent), a ground-condition assessment, and — for boom-type platforms — a harness with a short restraint lanyard clipped to the designated anchor, because the main hazard is being catapulted out.
Fragile surfaces and openings
Fragile roofs kill people every year — asbestos cement sheets, fibre-cement, old liner panels, and rooflights that are invisible once dirty or painted over. Treat any roof as fragile until you have positive evidence it is not. Never walk the surface; use crawling boards or staging that spans the structural members, with safety nets or an air bag underneath and edge protection at the perimeter. Rooflights must be physically covered or guarded. The same applies to openings within a working area — stairwells, lift shafts, floor voids — which must be securely covered or guarded with the cover clearly marked and fixed so it cannot be removed casually.
Falling objects and the people below
The regulations do not only protect the person at height — they require steps to stop tools and materials falling onto people below. Toe boards and brick guards on platforms, tethered tools at height, exclusion zones beneath the work, and not storing loose materials at the edge. A dropped scaffold fitting is a fatal hazard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are ladders banned under the Work at Height Regulations?
No — this is the most persistent myth in the trades. Ladders and stepladders are legitimate access equipment for short-duration, low-risk work where a risk assessment shows a more substantial platform is not reasonably practicable. What the regulations require is that you do not default to a ladder for work that genuinely needs a tower, podium or MEWP — sustained two-handed work, repeated material handling at height, or work over a fall hazard. Use the right tool, justified by the assessment.
Is there a minimum height before the regulations apply?
No. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 removed the old "2 metres" idea entirely. They apply to any work at height where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury — that includes falls from low platforms, the back of a vehicle, into an excavation, or down a few steps. Many serious and fatal injuries are from below head height; the consequences depend on what is fallen onto, not just how far.
When does a scaffold have to be inspected?
A scaffold must be inspected by a competent person before it is first used, at intervals not exceeding 7 days while it remains in use, and after any event likely to have affected its stability — high winds, an impact, or any alteration. The inspection must be recorded. A scaffold without a current handover tag or inspection record should not be used. The same principle applies to other access equipment under LOLER and the manufacturer's requirements.
Do I need a harness for work on a flat roof?
Not necessarily — and a harness should not be the first answer. Work through the hierarchy: can edge protection (guardrails and toe boards around the roof perimeter) prevent a fall for everyone? That collective measure is preferred to a harness. A harness and fall-arrest system is a lower-order control that depends on a suitable anchor, the right lanyard length so the worker cannot reach the ground, the worker clipping on every time, and a rescue plan. Use collective edge protection where you can; reserve personal fall arrest for where it genuinely cannot be provided.
Regulations & Standards
Work at Height Regulations 2005 — the core duties: plan, supervise, use competent people, and apply the avoid/prevent/minimise hierarchy.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 — the overarching duty of care, covering the self-employed.
Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) — applies to MEWPs and other lifting equipment used for access.
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) — applies to ladders, towers and access equipment as work equipment.
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) — planning and managing construction work including work at height.
BS EN 12811 — temporary works equipment / working scaffolds. BS 1139 / BS EN 1004 — components and mobile access towers. BS EN 131 — ladders.
HSE — Work at height — the regulator's work at height hub
HSE — The Work at Height Regulations 2005: A brief guide (INDG401) — concise guidance on the regulations
HSE — Construction: Falls from height — falls in construction
HSE — Fragile roofs and surfaces — managing fragile surface risk
scaffold inspection — scaffold inspection requirements and the 7-day rule in detail
ppe guide — head protection and harness selection for work at height
asbestos — fragile asbestos cement roofs and how to manage them
site setup — planning site access, edge protection and exclusion zones