Working at heights: safety insights and best practices from industry experts | The Indicator Podcast

Description

In this short webinar, our team shares essential guidance on working safely at heights — covering key risks, regulations, and practical tips to protect workers and improve compliance. Whether you're in construction, maintenance, or facilities management, this session offers valuable insights to help you stay safe and informed.

Topics include:

common hazards and how to mitigate them
legal responsibilities and safety standards
real-world scenarios and expert advice

Listen now to strengthen your safety culture and reduce risk.

Visit www.lefebvre-uk.co.uk to explore our product range, or connect with us on social media:

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Duncan
Well hello everyone and welcome to this episode focusing on workplace safety. Our topic today is reduce the risk when working at height. I'm your host, Duncan Callow, I'm the Managing Director at Lefebvre here in the UK, the publisher of Tips and Advice Health and Safety. And I'm delighted to have along as our expert in occupational safety, Rachel Wildman. So welcome, Rachel.
Rachel
Thank you Duncan, thrilled to be here to discuss this very pertinent topic. We know it's the number one cause of fatalities in the UK workplace and we know there's more to be done. So let's proceed.
Duncan
OK, well, let's start actually by defining the topic. Rachel, could you explain to everyone who's attending today what working at height actually entails and why it presents significant safety challenges in various work environments?
Rachel
Certainly. Well, working at height really encompasses any task that is conducted at an elevated position where there can be a risk of falling and sustaining injuries. It doesn't matter whether you're working off a ladder, a step ladder, scaffolding or working on a roof or a platform. If there's a chance that you could fall, then that is what classes as working at height.
Duncan
OK, interesting. As with a lot of health and safety, I think there are probably some urban myths perpetuating around working at height - could you explain what those are?
Rachel
Yes, certainly. So, a lot of people think that you have to be over a certain level to be classed as working at height, so, for example, over one metre. That in fact is not true - it's anything where you are at risk of falling, so even sort of like a curb height really, if you could fall off of that break or sprain your ankle, that can also be classed as working at height The other thing as well is it's falling down, so if you fall down into a pit or an excavation that also is classed as a working up height incident and just to really clarify because there's some confusion about whether if you fall down a staircase whether that's classed as working at height actually the HSE class that as a slip, trip and a fall so if you do have to put in a RIDDOR report for example, for somebody falling down a staircase in the workplace, it would come under the classification of slip, trip and fall, and not a working at height incident.
Duncan
Very interesting. So, if we put up a Christmas tree in the office and I'm standing on a very small chair and I fall off and injure myself, that's potentially working at height? That's an injury, yep?
Rachel
Yes, it is. But I would not encourage you to stand on a chair!
Duncan
Well, OK, that brings on to the next question, really. We need to understand what the impact of working at height is. So, could you explain to us what the consequences are of falling from a height in the workplace and why it's so crucial to prioritise the safety measures in such scenarios?
Rachel
Yeah, of course. I mean, it's fairly obvious, but sometimes the obvious is not always easy to see. So some of the injuries that you can sustain are, I've mentioned before, sort of can be quite simple, from a sprained ankle. It could be bumps and bruises It could be broken bones, for example, and then we start to get into the more severe things like head injuries - you know, if you fall and break your back or your neck it could be, you know, have some very resulting life-changing injuries. And then of course it could be the ultimate one - you could actually lose your life. So the injuries can range from sort of quite small and innocuous minor injuries to, you know, very severe - severe and fatal injuries.
Duncan
Okay, I think that's clear. Anybody knows that falling from a height could result in death. But come on, Rachel, what's the reality of the situation? Is it really an issue for many workplaces?
Rachel
Well, you'd like to think it wouldn't be that case. But, you know, with everything we know about safety and preventing accidents and safeguarding employees. In 2024-25, the HSE figures show that actually 35 workers did in fact lose their lives falling from height. And not only that, 48,320 workers suffered a non-fatal injury. So unfortunately, these figures show that it does happen. It is a real threat in the workplace and that more needs to be done to prevent that falling in the first instance.
Duncan
Okay, I'll give you that. So moving on to an employer's legal obligations, what specific duties do businesses in the UK have concerning working at height and ensuring the safety of their workers?
Rachel
So the specific regulation that applies - obviously, we've got the umbrella act of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 - but there's a regulation that comes under that called the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Now, these stipulate that you as an employer, you must conduct thorough risk assessments. And that's not just, "Right, we work at height, so we do a generic risk assessment". Those risk assessments need to be for every individual task that you undertake. They have to be very relevant to the hazards that are posed at that time. Once you've done those risk assessments, you then are legally obliged to implement control measures to ensure that that work at height is adequately planned and supervised and that you're providing the suitable equipment. So, for example, you're putting up decorations on a Christmas tree. Standing on a chair is not the right equipment to be able to do that. So, you know, what you should be providing there is like a step ladder, so that you're providing as an employer the right equipment for your staff to be able to access their working area safely.
Duncan
Okay, good to know. You've already given me some very practical advice there. So actually, when we're thinking about solutions from a practical perspective, what control measures can employers adopt to effectively reduce the risks associated with working at height? And do you have any, from your own personal experience, any practical and cost-effective recommendations for everybody here today?
Rachel
Yes, certainly. So it does, of course, depend upon the task and where your working at height task is being undertaken. So, for example, if you are on a construction site and you are using scaffolding you're obviously going to be needing to use your guard rails, your toe boards. You need to make sure that the ladder is sort of securely inside of the scaffolding so it can't topple and fall over and again that should all be done as part of the design of the scaffolding. However, not everybody is going to be using scaffolding. So there are other things where you might need to access height. And it will be things like if you're on a flat roof, for example, you know, having to check your offices or you've got a leak on a flat roof. It's about providing edge protection so that, you know, you can't get near to the edge or things like Mansafe lines, which are sort of secure fixing points. And then the individual can wear a harness so that they can't physically reach the edge of the roof and fall off. So there are some sort of quite simple, cost-effective solutions that you can do to prevent those falls in the first place.
Duncan
OK, that's helpful. We've talked about the sort of equipment, et cetera, et cetera. But could you describe some of the safe practices that the staff themselves should be employing?
Rachel
Yeah, absolutely. So really, it's about making sure that the work is planned and that the staff are competent and capable of working at height. And when we're sort of talking about capability is also the ability, because you may find that you haven't understood that some of your staff might be frightened of working at height and, you know, they don't want to admit it. And if they're up on a ladder, they may freeze. And then you've got a whole new issue because it's how do you get them down from there? So, again, you know, when we're talking competency and capability, it's making sure that they are comfortable to actually start the task in the first place. So, you know, that's a very simple, cost-effective solution just to make sure you've got the right people doing the job really. And other things, those trained staff should be checking their equipment, anything that they're using, such as ladders or, you know, even your scaffolders. They need to sort of do a quick visual check of their equipment to make sure there's no obvious signs of damage or wear and tear. When staff are positioning ladders or step ladders, you know, even if you're in an office, for example, and trying to reach the top of a cupboard, If you're using a step ladder, you should make sure that the person using it should make sure that it's equally balanced and on a stable surface that you haven't got, you know, one half on one step and one on the other so it becomes a bit wonky. If it's outside, making sure that the ground that you're on isn't sort of over a manhole and you've got some slightly more delicate areas that might give way once weight is put on those. So, again, some very easy tips that staff and competent staff should know what to look for before they actually start the job as well. Preparation for the task is key. So it's also making sure that once they have accessed their working position, that they've got all of the tools that they need. So, for example, if you're a painter and decorator, it's have you got everything to hand so you're not having to overreach, overbalance and even keep going up and down those ladders because that can be very fatiguing. And again, that can also lead to accidents. So, again, it's making sure that you're well prepared and that you've got all the tools that you need for the job at hand before you actually go up that ladder.
Duncan
That's excellent, some really practical, usable advice there, but are there any other controls that businesses could adopt from your experience?
Rachel
Well, there are plenty really, so just simple things such as conducting regular safety inspections, checking that the dates on equipment are, such as ropes and harnesses, your scafftag dating, that it's all within the actual time frame. So for example, if you have forklift trucks and your workers have to abseil out of them in event of an emergency, those abseil ropes actually only have a two year lifespan on them. So although you might not use them very much and they are there purely for an emergency, you do have a duty to ensure that they are within their existing timeframe. Because if they're used and they may have degraded over time and they may fail, then again, you will be deemed liable because you haven't done those regular checks. Promoting a safety culture, again, you know, encouraging your staff to sort of get involved with it, do the checks. It's their safety after all, so why wouldn't they want to get involved? So, again, sort of really encouraging them to make sure that they're reporting things. If they notice that some of the dates are sort of coming up, report that so that you can replace the equipment, et cetera, et cetera. And one very simple one might be such if you have any racking. Say you've got small areas or even a full warehouse, you can just simply implement a no climbing on the racking. It's very tempting sometimes to think, "Oh, I'm just going to do that. It will be really quick just to pop up there and grab that". And that's when accidents can happen. So a no-cost control will be an absolutely strictly no climbing on the racking. And again, you would have prevented an incident there.
Duncan
Fantastic. Well, we've actually had a question in from somebody viewing and it's a good one. It says, "I've heard that a number of businesses complaining", or they've heard that their businesses complaining, that ladders and step ladders have been banned by the HSE. Is that really the case? Can I... is it not possible to use them anymore in the workplace?
Rachel
Well, that's one of those urban myths surrounding working at height. So the HSE have not banned health - sorry, have not banned ladders or step ladders in the workplace. But what they have said is that employees should take a practical and sensible approach to using that type of equipment. Really, it's about making sure that you only use ladders and step ladders for low-risk and short duration tasks. And their recommendation is really anything over 30 minutes, you should be providing other equipment to access the work site. So, for example, trestle tables or mobile scaffolding towers, et cetera, et cetera. So really, again, it all comes back to that risk assessment. If you think that the task that you're doing is low risk and of short duration, then a ladder can be perfectly acceptable to use in the workplace.
Duncan
OK, fantastic answer. Well, thank you, Rachel. Your insights have been extremely valuable and I'm sure everybody who's taking part in this will be able to enhance their safety when working at height. And remember that safeguarding employees and prioritising safety measures can make a significant difference in preventing accidents and maintaining a secure workplace environment. So thank you very much indeed, Rachel.
Rachel
Okay, you're very welcome, Duncan.
Duncan
Well, it's been our pleasure. And if you'd like any more information about our range of products related to health and safety, some of which are now powered by AI, please do give us a call on 01233 653 500 or visit our webshop at www.lefebvre-uk.co.uk. But for now, thank you very much.

Description

Topics include:

common hazards and how to mitigate them
legal responsibilities and safety standards
real-world scenarios and expert advice

Listen now to strengthen your safety culture and reduce risk.

Visit www.lefebvre-uk.co.uk to explore our product range, or connect with us on social media:

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Duncan
Well hello everyone and welcome to this episode focusing on workplace safety. Our topic today is reduce the risk when working at height. I'm your host, Duncan Callow, I'm the Managing Director at Lefebvre here in the UK, the publisher of Tips and Advice Health and Safety. And I'm delighted to have along as our expert in occupational safety, Rachel Wildman. So welcome, Rachel.
Rachel
Thank you Duncan, thrilled to be here to discuss this very pertinent topic. We know it's the number one cause of fatalities in the UK workplace and we know there's more to be done. So let's proceed.
Duncan
OK, well, let's start actually by defining the topic. Rachel, could you explain to everyone who's attending today what working at height actually entails and why it presents significant safety challenges in various work environments?
Rachel
Certainly. Well, working at height really encompasses any task that is conducted at an elevated position where there can be a risk of falling and sustaining injuries. It doesn't matter whether you're working off a ladder, a step ladder, scaffolding or working on a roof or a platform. If there's a chance that you could fall, then that is what classes as working at height.
Duncan
OK, interesting. As with a lot of health and safety, I think there are probably some urban myths perpetuating around working at height - could you explain what those are?
Rachel
Yes, certainly. So, a lot of people think that you have to be over a certain level to be classed as working at height, so, for example, over one metre. That in fact is not true - it's anything where you are at risk of falling, so even sort of like a curb height really, if you could fall off of that break or sprain your ankle, that can also be classed as working at height The other thing as well is it's falling down, so if you fall down into a pit or an excavation that also is classed as a working up height incident and just to really clarify because there's some confusion about whether if you fall down a staircase whether that's classed as working at height actually the HSE class that as a slip, trip and a fall so if you do have to put in a RIDDOR report for example, for somebody falling down a staircase in the workplace, it would come under the classification of slip, trip and fall, and not a working at height incident.
Duncan
Very interesting. So, if we put up a Christmas tree in the office and I'm standing on a very small chair and I fall off and injure myself, that's potentially working at height? That's an injury, yep?
Rachel
Yes, it is. But I would not encourage you to stand on a chair!
Duncan
Well, OK, that brings on to the next question, really. We need to understand what the impact of working at height is. So, could you explain to us what the consequences are of falling from a height in the workplace and why it's so crucial to prioritise the safety measures in such scenarios?
Rachel
Yeah, of course. I mean, it's fairly obvious, but sometimes the obvious is not always easy to see. So some of the injuries that you can sustain are, I've mentioned before, sort of can be quite simple, from a sprained ankle. It could be bumps and bruises It could be broken bones, for example, and then we start to get into the more severe things like head injuries - you know, if you fall and break your back or your neck it could be, you know, have some very resulting life-changing injuries. And then of course it could be the ultimate one - you could actually lose your life. So the injuries can range from sort of quite small and innocuous minor injuries to, you know, very severe - severe and fatal injuries.
Duncan
Okay, I think that's clear. Anybody knows that falling from a height could result in death. But come on, Rachel, what's the reality of the situation? Is it really an issue for many workplaces?
Rachel
Well, you'd like to think it wouldn't be that case. But, you know, with everything we know about safety and preventing accidents and safeguarding employees. In 2024-25, the HSE figures show that actually 35 workers did in fact lose their lives falling from height. And not only that, 48,320 workers suffered a non-fatal injury. So unfortunately, these figures show that it does happen. It is a real threat in the workplace and that more needs to be done to prevent that falling in the first instance.
Duncan
Okay, I'll give you that. So moving on to an employer's legal obligations, what specific duties do businesses in the UK have concerning working at height and ensuring the safety of their workers?
Rachel
So the specific regulation that applies - obviously, we've got the umbrella act of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 - but there's a regulation that comes under that called the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Now, these stipulate that you as an employer, you must conduct thorough risk assessments. And that's not just, "Right, we work at height, so we do a generic risk assessment". Those risk assessments need to be for every individual task that you undertake. They have to be very relevant to the hazards that are posed at that time. Once you've done those risk assessments, you then are legally obliged to implement control measures to ensure that that work at height is adequately planned and supervised and that you're providing the suitable equipment. So, for example, you're putting up decorations on a Christmas tree. Standing on a chair is not the right equipment to be able to do that. So, you know, what you should be providing there is like a step ladder, so that you're providing as an employer the right equipment for your staff to be able to access their working area safely.
Duncan
Okay, good to know. You've already given me some very practical advice there. So actually, when we're thinking about solutions from a practical perspective, what control measures can employers adopt to effectively reduce the risks associated with working at height? And do you have any, from your own personal experience, any practical and cost-effective recommendations for everybody here today?
Rachel
Yes, certainly. So it does, of course, depend upon the task and where your working at height task is being undertaken. So, for example, if you are on a construction site and you are using scaffolding you're obviously going to be needing to use your guard rails, your toe boards. You need to make sure that the ladder is sort of securely inside of the scaffolding so it can't topple and fall over and again that should all be done as part of the design of the scaffolding. However, not everybody is going to be using scaffolding. So there are other things where you might need to access height. And it will be things like if you're on a flat roof, for example, you know, having to check your offices or you've got a leak on a flat roof. It's about providing edge protection so that, you know, you can't get near to the edge or things like Mansafe lines, which are sort of secure fixing points. And then the individual can wear a harness so that they can't physically reach the edge of the roof and fall off. So there are some sort of quite simple, cost-effective solutions that you can do to prevent those falls in the first place.
Duncan
OK, that's helpful. We've talked about the sort of equipment, et cetera, et cetera. But could you describe some of the safe practices that the staff themselves should be employing?
Rachel
Yeah, absolutely. So really, it's about making sure that the work is planned and that the staff are competent and capable of working at height. And when we're sort of talking about capability is also the ability, because you may find that you haven't understood that some of your staff might be frightened of working at height and, you know, they don't want to admit it. And if they're up on a ladder, they may freeze. And then you've got a whole new issue because it's how do you get them down from there? So, again, you know, when we're talking competency and capability, it's making sure that they are comfortable to actually start the task in the first place. So, you know, that's a very simple, cost-effective solution just to make sure you've got the right people doing the job really. And other things, those trained staff should be checking their equipment, anything that they're using, such as ladders or, you know, even your scaffolders. They need to sort of do a quick visual check of their equipment to make sure there's no obvious signs of damage or wear and tear. When staff are positioning ladders or step ladders, you know, even if you're in an office, for example, and trying to reach the top of a cupboard, If you're using a step ladder, you should make sure that the person using it should make sure that it's equally balanced and on a stable surface that you haven't got, you know, one half on one step and one on the other so it becomes a bit wonky. If it's outside, making sure that the ground that you're on isn't sort of over a manhole and you've got some slightly more delicate areas that might give way once weight is put on those. So, again, some very easy tips that staff and competent staff should know what to look for before they actually start the job as well. Preparation for the task is key. So it's also making sure that once they have accessed their working position, that they've got all of the tools that they need. So, for example, if you're a painter and decorator, it's have you got everything to hand so you're not having to overreach, overbalance and even keep going up and down those ladders because that can be very fatiguing. And again, that can also lead to accidents. So, again, it's making sure that you're well prepared and that you've got all the tools that you need for the job at hand before you actually go up that ladder.
Duncan
That's excellent, some really practical, usable advice there, but are there any other controls that businesses could adopt from your experience?
Rachel
Well, there are plenty really, so just simple things such as conducting regular safety inspections, checking that the dates on equipment are, such as ropes and harnesses, your scafftag dating, that it's all within the actual time frame. So for example, if you have forklift trucks and your workers have to abseil out of them in event of an emergency, those abseil ropes actually only have a two year lifespan on them. So although you might not use them very much and they are there purely for an emergency, you do have a duty to ensure that they are within their existing timeframe. Because if they're used and they may have degraded over time and they may fail, then again, you will be deemed liable because you haven't done those regular checks. Promoting a safety culture, again, you know, encouraging your staff to sort of get involved with it, do the checks. It's their safety after all, so why wouldn't they want to get involved? So, again, sort of really encouraging them to make sure that they're reporting things. If they notice that some of the dates are sort of coming up, report that so that you can replace the equipment, et cetera, et cetera. And one very simple one might be such if you have any racking. Say you've got small areas or even a full warehouse, you can just simply implement a no climbing on the racking. It's very tempting sometimes to think, "Oh, I'm just going to do that. It will be really quick just to pop up there and grab that". And that's when accidents can happen. So a no-cost control will be an absolutely strictly no climbing on the racking. And again, you would have prevented an incident there.
Duncan
Fantastic. Well, we've actually had a question in from somebody viewing and it's a good one. It says, "I've heard that a number of businesses complaining", or they've heard that their businesses complaining, that ladders and step ladders have been banned by the HSE. Is that really the case? Can I... is it not possible to use them anymore in the workplace?
Rachel
Well, that's one of those urban myths surrounding working at height. So the HSE have not banned health - sorry, have not banned ladders or step ladders in the workplace. But what they have said is that employees should take a practical and sensible approach to using that type of equipment. Really, it's about making sure that you only use ladders and step ladders for low-risk and short duration tasks. And their recommendation is really anything over 30 minutes, you should be providing other equipment to access the work site. So, for example, trestle tables or mobile scaffolding towers, et cetera, et cetera. So really, again, it all comes back to that risk assessment. If you think that the task that you're doing is low risk and of short duration, then a ladder can be perfectly acceptable to use in the workplace.
Duncan
OK, fantastic answer. Well, thank you, Rachel. Your insights have been extremely valuable and I'm sure everybody who's taking part in this will be able to enhance their safety when working at height. And remember that safeguarding employees and prioritising safety measures can make a significant difference in preventing accidents and maintaining a secure workplace environment. So thank you very much indeed, Rachel.
Rachel
Okay, you're very welcome, Duncan.
Duncan
Well, it's been our pleasure. And if you'd like any more information about our range of products related to health and safety, some of which are now powered by AI, please do give us a call on 01233 653 500 or visit our webshop at www.lefebvre-uk.co.uk. But for now, thank you very much.

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