WORKING AT HEIGHT RISKY
BUSINESS
Ridwaan Omar, a Partner and Technical Member of IOSH, who specialises in health and safety law at Forbes Solicitors, looks at how employers can manage the risks of employers working at height.
Falls from height remain the leading cause of workplace fatalities. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics for 2023/24 show 138 workers were killed in work-related accidents. 50 of these deaths, which is the majority, were caused by falls from height. This is double the second highest cause of workplace fatalities, which involved 25 workers killed by moving vehicles.
Health and safety laws require employers and those in control of works to mitigate the risks of working at height, and there are serious consequences in place to deter compliance failures. The Sentencing Council Guidelines for breach of health and safety regulations, whether they are tried summarily (in the Magistrates’ Court) or on indictment (in the Crown Court), provides the Courts with the discretion to impose unlimited fines. Financial penalties will vary dependent on the size of the organisation, turnover, culpability and the seriousness of the harm risked. Custodial sentences for up to a maximum of two years can also be issued to company directors and/or senior managers found liable for failing to protect the safety of employees working at height.
“IN DECEMBER 2024, A ROOFING COMPANY DIRECTOR WAS HANDED A SUSPENDED PRISON SENTENCE AFTER WORKERS WERE CAUGHT ON CAMERA USING MOBILE PHONE TORCHES WHILE WORKING ON A ROOF AT NIGHT.”
Recent HSE prosecutions show how robustly fall-from- height failures are enforced. Dodwell Farm Limited was fined £133,000 in January 2025 after a worker was seriously injured falling through a barn roof in Southampton. A HSE investigation found the company had failed to take appropriate precautious to ensure the safety of workers. In another prosecution in December 2024, a roofing company director was handed a suspended prison sentence after workers were caught on camera using mobile phone torches while working on a roof at night.
WHAT THE LAW SAYS The Work at Height Regulations 2005 (WAHR) were introduced to prevent death and injury caused by a fall from height. They apply to any employer who controls work at height and require such activities to be properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people.
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WAHR set out a hierarchy of protection measures, which employers are expected to systematically follow. These measures start with a requirement to avoid work at height, where it is reasonably practicable to do so. If this isn’t an option, before any work at height is undertaken, preventative measures and equipment must be used to manage risks and prevent falls. For example, raised platforms and scaffolding may require safety meshing, guardrails and gates.
If the risk of a fall cannot be eliminated, employers must take measures to minimise the distance and consequence of a fall using collective measures such as the use of safety nets and soft-landing systems. Employees should also be provided with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which may include fall- arrest harnesses.
Employers also have a duty to ensure employees are properly trained. WAHR require employees to have the right skills, knowledge and experience to work at height. It’s important to note that this also applies to employees involved in the control of the work, even if they are not actually working off the ground.
SAFER WORKING AT HEIGHT Many failures to prevent falls from height are often caused by inadequate risks assessments and a lack of sufficient safety measures. I saw this again recently in a HSE prosecution case, where I represented a labour- only subcontractor. Their operative fell through a skylight when installing solar panels on a commercial building. The HSE investigation found that the principal contractor failed to plan the work adequately and allowed this to go ahead when they were aware of multiple fragile skylights in close proximity to where the solar panels were being fitted. This issue should have been addressed before work commenced. It was also found that fixed scaffolding and man safe systems had only been partially erected.
A key point for employers is not to rush into working at height and to dynamically assess risks when work at height is in progress. Risk assessments should provide a thorough plan for what safety control measures need to be put in place to protect workers, with this used as a checklist to ensure all the relevant steps are being taken throughout the duration of the work.
Robust risk assessments, which are regularly reviewed can ensure that employers and employees are fully aware of the dangers of working at height, and more likely to exercise caution that prevents falls.
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