Conducting A Comprehensive Risk Assessment For Working At Height

How can we help you?

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) makes clear that it is the employers responsibility to conduct a thorough risk assessment before any of their workers carry out tasks at height. Working at height is governed by strict regulations and legislation, designed to keep the worker safe from risks of falls. As part of these regulations, you MUST conduct a work at height risk assessment.

Now, it is possible to carry out that risk assessment yourself if you’re familiar with how risk assessments work and can demonstrate that all possible risks were explored at the time of making the risk assessment and you updated those risk assessments regularly to ensure you were doing all you can to protect your workers.

If you can do that – then our guide will help you today as we take you through the steps necessary to conduct a thorough work at height risk assessment.

However, we also know that it’s difficult to find the time to complete a comprehensive risk assessment for working at height. That’s why at Altus Safety we can carry out risk assessments for working at height on an employer’s behalf. As experts in height safety, we can ensure that no stone is left unturned.

Contact us today to see how we can help, or read on to find out more about conducting a risk assessment for work at height that covers all the bases.

What Is A Work At Height Risk Assessment? Why Is It Necessary?

A work at height risk assessment is exactly as it sounds. It’s a method of identifying hazards and risks to workers who are due to carry out a task that requires working at height. Working at height can be on roofs (flat roof or pitched), mobile elevating work platforms, during plant access or using ladders, etc.

The HSE, in their Assessing all work at height guide, states that:

“The law requires that employers and self-employed contractors assess the risk from work at height and go on to organise and plan the work so it is carried out safely.”

In other words, it’s necessary before any work at height begins because it gives you a clear path forward for safety and work at height regulations dictate that it’s necessary.

Do I Need A Risk Assessment?

If work is going to be carried out on your site or at your building that will require working at height, then you need a thorough risk assessment for working at height. It doesn’t matter if that work is a quick job. It doesn’t matter if that work is rare. If at any point somebody is going to work at height on site, then you’ll need a risk assessment beforehand because it will keep them safe and ensure you get the right roof access equipment or fall protection systems.

They’re more common in the construction industry, but anywhere that a person is working at height from working platforms or roofs must be risk assessed by a competent person to ensure the correct equipment is in use.

Carrying Out A Thorough Risk Assessment Yourself

So, now you know what a work at height risk assessment is and if it’s necessary for you to have one, let’s look at how to carry out the risk assessment yourself if you decide to go down this route.

1. Identify ALL Possible Hazards

This is the first step, but it’s also the single most important step, and it’s vital that you are as thorough as you can be at this stage.

It’s important that you focus on both the task itself and any potential hazards that might be present, but also it’s important to consider the site conditions – not just as they are now, but as they could be if the weather was different etc.

This stage requires you to not only note the hazards you can see in front of you right now, but also to imagine what other hazards could appear when conditions change.

For example, you’ll need to consider things like:

Conditions of the surfaces – Fragile roof surfaces like skylights pose a risk, as do unstable platforms indoors whilst working at height; will ladders and scaffolding be necessary; is the surface anti-slip? These are all questions you must ask yourself.
What happens when the weather changes? – It might be sunny now but what happens if there’s a storm? Wind? Rain? Extreme heat? Your risk assessment should consider this and come up with contingencies to protect workers.
Is there a risk of falling objects? – With workers at height, it’s possible they might drop their tools or, depending on their task, create debris that falls. Work at height risk assessments protect those at height, yes, but also those below, so it’s important to have proper systems in place to prevent injuries above and below.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it serves to help you understand the level of detail you must go into. This stage is the most important one. So make sure you consider ALL risks and hazards and assess the risk level of those potential risks so you can prioritise those that are higher risk.

2. Know Who Is Most At Risk

This part is much easier because it just requires that you state clearly those at risk when working at height.

It’s pretty much always the workers themselves who are working at height and any worker, visitor, or contractor below the work area. But it’s still important to consider who is at risk to ensure everyone is protected.

3. Evaluate & Put Control Measures In Place

Once you know all the risks and who is at risk, it’s time to prioritise that information following careful examination and consider what the best control measures are to keep them safe. The HSE have created a hierarchy of control measures that should be considered, where 1 in the list below is their preferred option in the first instance, and number 8 is the final thing to consider before admitting that the tasks might be too dangerous to carry out without specialist support.

For this stage, you should consider:

Avoid working at height where possible
Prevent falls through the existing worksite
Prevent falls by offering collective protection to all workers
Prevent falls by using and testing personal protective equipment (PPE)
Minimise the distance of potential falls
Ensure the working environment is safe
Minimise the consequences of falls
Prevent falls by implementing correct training

Avoiding working at height is the best control measure, but sometimes work is unavoidable

4. Document The Risk Assessment & Present To Workers

Your risk assessment should record things like:

Risks identified
Control measures in place to eliminate or reduce risk
Roles and responsibilities of all workers, supervisors, etc
The rescue plan if something should go wrong

The risk assessment should then be communicated to all workers so they know exactly what’s in place to protect them and to reassure them that the work is properly planned.

5. Review & Update Regularly

You can’t just complete a risk assessment for working at height from 5 years ago and then never update it. Risk assessments require regular reviews to ensure they’re up to date and relevant and any changes should be made and communicated to all workers.

How Altus Safety Can Help With Your Risk Assessment

At Altus Safety we take the safety of those working at height very seriously. That’s why we offer work at height risk assessment services designed to ensure nothing is missed when a risk assessment is carried out, increasing the safety of your workers significantly.

Not only that but we can also design, install, maintain and compliance test a range of fall protection systems from fall arrest mobile man anchors to handrail and guardrail safety systems and so much more. Really, we’re a one-stop-shop for your height safety needs, offering risk assessments that identify potential hazards, and then offering the systems you require to keep your workers safe.