Work at Height Regulations Compliance Check

Why this matters

Falls from height remain the leading cause of work-related fatalities in Great Britain year after year, and the Health and Safety Executive’s most recent annual statistics again placed falls from height at or near the top of the fatal injury table, ahead of being struck by a moving vehicle or object. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 place a legal duty on every employer and self-employed person to avoid work at height where reasonably practicable, and where it cannot be avoided, to use equipment or measures that prevent falls, and only then to use equipment that minimises the distance and consequences of a fall. The regulations apply to any work above or below ground level where a fall could cause injury — not just construction sites, but window cleaning, warehouse racking, roof access, retail shelf-stacking, tree surgery, and even a shopkeeper changing a lightbulb from a stepladder.

HSE enforces these duties actively, and prosecutions and improvement or prohibition notices for unsafe work at height are among the most common outcomes of routine HSE site visits, particularly for small and medium businesses that treat ladders and stepladders informally rather than as work equipment requiring a proper risk assessment. The regulations also impose specific duties around the selection, inspection and maintenance of access equipment (ladders, scaffolding, mobile elevating work platforms, harnesses), the competence of anyone supervising or carrying out work at height, and emergency planning for rescue if someone falls or becomes suspended in a harness. Any UK business where staff, contractors or volunteers ever work above ground level, on a raised platform, or near a fall risk such as an open edge, fragile roof or excavation should check its arrangements against these duties now, rather than after an incident or an HSE inspection.

What you'll need

• Whether any staff, contractors or volunteers carry out work above ground level, on ladders, or near open edges
• Whether you've completed a specific risk assessment for work at height tasks
• What access equipment you use (ladders, stepladders, scaffolding, MEWPs, harnesses)
• Whether equipment is regularly inspected and by whom
• Whether you have a rescue or emergency plan if someone falls or is suspended

What you'll get

A personalised compliance report covering: a score out of 100, an executive summary, a list of findings ranked by severity, and a prioritised action plan with timeframes.