Health & Safety 2 min read Reviewed Sept 2026

Work at height

Also known as: Working at height

Work at height is any work where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury, including at or below ground level.

See how Sync handles Work at height Construction health and safety legislation
The short answer
  • Any work where someone could fall and be injured, at any height.
  • There is no minimum height. A fall into an excavation counts.
  • Avoid the work, prevent the fall, then minimise the distance and consequences.

Work at height means any work where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 removed the old two metre threshold, so the test is the consequence of the fall rather than the measurement.

That definition catches more than people expect. Working beside an unguarded excavation is work at height. So is standing on a low platform, working near a fragile rooflight, or working above an opening in a floor slab. Falls from height remain the largest single cause of death in UK construction, and a significant share of them are from below three metres.

The order of controls

The regulations set out their own version of the hierarchy of control, and it is worth following in order.

Avoid it. Do the work from the ground where you can. Assemble at ground level and lift into place, use extending tools, design the job so nobody has to go up.

Prevent the fall. Where the work has to happen at height, use a workplace that already protects: a scaffold with guardrails, a tower, a MEWP, a permanent platform with edge protection.

Minimise the distance and consequences. Only when a risk of falling remains. Collective measures such as netting or airbags come before personal fall arrest, because they protect everyone in the area rather than the one person wearing the equipment.

The practical failures

Ladders used for the wrong job is the familiar one. They are not banned, and the belief that they are pushes people into pretending they used something else. They are appropriate for low-risk, short-duration work, and inappropriate as the default for anything longer.

Fragile surfaces are the deadly one. Rooflights and aged sheeting look like a floor and are not, and they need identifying and protecting before anyone goes near the roof.

The third is equipment that has drifted out of certification. Where lifting equipment is used to carry people, LOLER requires thorough examination every six months rather than twelve, and a MEWP with an out-of-date report should not be lifting anyone.

Access equipment, inspection records, harness training and PPE issue all need to be producible against the person and the project. Where high-risk access work needs formal authorisation before it starts, a permit to work is the usual mechanism. Keeping that trail together is what Sync’s risk management is built to do.

Common questions

Is there a minimum height?

No. The two metre figure people remember was removed in 2005. The test is whether a person could fall a distance liable to cause injury, which means a fall from a low platform, into an excavation, or through a fragile surface at ground level all fall within the regulations.

Are ladders banned?

No, and the belief that they are causes its own problems. Ladders are acceptable for low-risk, short-duration work where a more suitable option is not justified. What is not acceptable is using a ladder because it was nearest, for a job that needed a tower or a MEWP.

What does the hierarchy look like here?

Avoid work at height if you can do the job from the ground. If you cannot, prevent a fall using a guarded platform or edge protection. If a risk of falling remains, minimise the distance and consequences with collective measures first, such as netting or airbags, and personal fall arrest only after that.

Does fragile roof work count?

Yes, and it is one of the most common causes of fatal falls. Fragile surfaces include rooflights and worn asbestos cement sheets, which look solid and are not. They need to be identified, marked and either covered or worked around with proper access.

More Health & Safety terms

All 14 in this category
Confined space A confined space is a largely enclosed place where there is a foreseeable risk of serious injury from hazardous conditions such as lack of oxygen or gas. COSHH COSHH is the UK law requiring employers to assess and control exposure to hazardous substances such as dust, fumes and chemicals. CSCS card A CSCS card evidences that the holder has the training and qualifications for the job they do on site, and has passed the health and safety test. Hierarchy of control The hierarchy of control is the order in which risk controls should be considered, from eliminating the hazard down to relying on PPE. Hot works Hot works are any tasks generating heat, sparks or flame, such as welding, cutting, grinding or soldering, that could start a fire. LOLER LOLER covers lifting equipment and lifting operations, requiring them to be strong enough, properly planned, and thoroughly examined at set intervals.

Keep the paperwork where the work is

Sync keeps your health and safety records against the projects they belong to, with review dates tracked, so the current version is there when someone asks for it.

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