Working at Height: Your Questions Answered

If you and/or your employees work at height, it is crucial to ensure that all work is carried out as safely as possible. Today, we're going to answer some frequently asked questions on the subject of working at height - if you're not sure what's required of you, read on to find out more about height safety and what you should be doing about it:

What counts as 'working at height'?

The HSE website defines 'work at height' as any work carried out in "any place where, if there were no precautions in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury". You don't have to be a specific distance above the ground before you qualify - if there's a chance you could fall and hurt yourself, you're working at height.

How far can I fall without hurting myself?

Again, there's no objective answer to this question: if you suffer a fall, the severity of your injuries will depend on your age, your weight, the surface on which you land, the way in which you land, and dozens of other factors besides the exact height you fell from. People have been known to survive falls from several kilometres high; conversely, people have been seriously injured and even killed by falls of a few feet or even less. This is why there is no specified limit to what constitutes 'working at height' - even the smallest of falls can be catastrophic!

What precautions are legally required when working at height?

We answered this question last month - the Work at Height Regulations 2005 don't specify any particular equipment or required safety measures, but they do state the need for "sufficient work equipment" and a proper assessment of any height safety risks. It's basically up to you to decide what precautions and which pieces of equipment will best protect you and your workers, but you won't get away with not doing anything.

What should I use to protect my workers?

Your main aim when selecting height safety equipment should be to prevent a fall from occurring. This can be achieved with safety harnesses and fall arrest blocks. Some kind of edge protection system can also help to minimise the risk of an accident. Otherwise, height safety generally depends on common sense - see our height safety fails blog for some examples of what not to do.

Need some height safety equipment? Visit our Working at Height department.