Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

17.33.2 Defi nitions – Regulation 2
‘Work at height’ means:
(a) work in any place, including a place at or below 
ground level
(b) obtaining access to or egress from such place 
while at work except by a staircase in a permanent 
workplace
where, if measures required by these Regulations were 
not taken, a person could fall a distance liable to cause 
personal injury.
‘Working platform’ means:
(a) means any platform used as a place of work or as a 
means of access to or egress from a place of work
(b) includes any scaffold, suspended scaffold, cradle, 
mobile platform, trestle, gangway, gantry and stair-
way which is so used.
17.33.3
Organization, planning and 
competence – Regulations 4 and 5
Work at height must be properly planned, appropriately 
supervised and carried out in a manner which is, so 
far as is reasonably practicable, safe. The selection of 
appropriate work equipment is included in the planning. 
Work must not be carried out if the weather conditions 
would jeopardize safety or health (this does not apply 
where members of the police, fi re, ambulance or other 
emergency services are acting in an emergency).
All people involved in work at height activity includ-
ing planning, organizing and supervising must be 
competent for such work, or if being trained, under 
competent supervision.
17.33.4 Avoidance of Risk – Regulation 6
A risk assessment carried out under the Management 
Regulations must be taken into account when identify-
ing the measures required by these regulations. Work at 
height should be avoided if there are reasonably practic-
able alternatives.
Where work at height is carried out employers must 
take suitable and suffi cient measures to prevent persons 
falling a distance liable to cause personal injury. The 
measures include:
(a) ensuring work is carried out:
i from an existing workplace
ii 
using existing means of access and egress 
that comply with schedule 1 of the Regulations 
(assuming it is safe and ergonomic to do so)
(b) where this is not reasonably practicable, providing 
work equipment (sfarp) for preventing a fall occurring.
Employers must take steps to minimize the distance and 
the consequences of a fall, if it is not prevented. Where 
the distance cannot be minimized (sfarp) the conse-
quence of a fall must be minimized and additional train-
ing, instruction and other additional suitable and suffi cient 
measures must be adopted to prevent a person falling a 
distance liable to cause personal injury.