Risk Assessment for Working at Height: Legal Requirements, Hierarchy & Free Template

A working-at-height risk assessment is a legal requirement under regulation 6(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which expressly requires employers to take account of a risk assessment under regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 before identifying control measures. The assessment must then directly inform how the work is planned, supervised, and executed — documentation alone is not enough.

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What 'Work at Height' Actually Means Under UK Law — and What It Does Not

The legal definition contains no fixed numeric height threshold. Under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, work at height means work in any place where, if precautions were not taken, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury — including falling from an edge, through an opening or fragile surface, or from ground level into an opening in a floor or a hole in the ground (Work at Height: Frequently asked questions).

Critically, the definition excludes slips or trips on the level — a fall from height must involve a fall from one level to a lower level. Walking up and down a permanent staircase in a building is also excluded (Work at Height: Frequently asked questions).

This means a worker painting the underside of a mezzanine, accessing a roof void, or drilling above a floor opening is working at height regardless of how low above the ground they appear to be.

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The Legal Duty: How Regulation 6 and Management Regs 1999 Reg 3 Interact

Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 imposes a general duty on every employer to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of employees whilst at work and of persons not in their employment arising out of the conduct of their undertaking (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, reg 3 — risk assessment).

Regulation 6(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 then expressly links to that duty: in identifying the measures required, every employer shall take account of a risk assessment under regulation 3 of the Management Regulations (Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 6 — Avoidance of risks from work at height).

The two instruments work in sequence. The Management Regs create the duty to assess; the WAH Regs specify that the resulting assessment must drive the selection of control measures for height work. 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 (Assessing all work at height). Completing a form and filing it away satisfies neither regulation.

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Five Duties the WAH Regulations 2005 Impose on Every Employer and Controller of Height Work

The WAH Regulations 2005 place duties not only on employers but on anyone who controls any work at height activity, including facilities managers or building owners who may contract others to work at height (Work at Height: Frequently asked questions). The five headline duties are:

1. Plan and organise — all work at height must be properly planned and organised.
2. Competence — those involved in work at height must be competent.
3. Assess and select equipment — the risks must be assessed, and appropriate work equipment selected and used.
4. Fragile surfaces — the risks of working on or near fragile surfaces must be properly managed.
5. Inspect and maintain — equipment used for work at height must be properly inspected and maintained.

(Work at Height: Frequently asked questions)

Each of these five duties should have a corresponding entry or evidence trail in your risk assessment documentation.

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The Five HSE Risk-Assessment Steps Applied Specifically to Working at Height

HSE's five-step process is: identify hazards; assess the risks; control the risks; record your findings; review the controls (HSE — Risk assessment: steps needed to manage risk). Applied to height work, each step carries specific obligations:

Step	What it means for height work
1. Identify hazards	Name the precise height scenario — equipment, location, approximate elevation, task. Not 'working at height' as a generic label (see worked example below).
2. Assess the risks	Determine who could be harmed, how likely a fall is, and how severe the consequences. Consider members of the public below, as well as operatives.
3. Control the risks	Apply the WAH hierarchy in order (avoid → prevent → arrest). Document why each level was or was not reasonably practicable.
4. Record your findings	Employers with five or more employees must record significant findings and any group especially at risk (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, reg 3 — risk assessment).
5. Review the controls	Review when there is reason to suspect the assessment is no longer valid or following a significant change (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, reg 3 — risk assessment).

HSE explicitly advises against overcomplicating the process — for many firms, work-at-height risks will be well known and the necessary control measures easy to apply (Assessing all work at height). Proportionality is the standard; depth of assessment should match complexity and novelty of the risk.

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The WAH Hierarchy of Controls: Why You Cannot Jump Straight to Harnesses

Regulation 6 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 establishes a strict sequential hierarchy, and regulation 7(1) reinforces it by requiring every employer to give collective protection measures priority over personal protection measures when selecting work equipment for height work (Work at Height Regulations 2005, reg 7 — collective protection priority).

The hierarchy must be followed systematically, and only when one level is not reasonably practicable may the next level be considered. It is not acceptable to select work equipment from lower down the hierarchy — for example, personal fall arrest such as harnesses and lanyards — in the first instance (Assessing all work at height).

The three tiers as they map to regulation 6:

Tier 1 — Avoid (reg 6(2)): Do not carry out the work at height where it is reasonably practicable to carry it out safely otherwise than at height (Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 6 — Avoidance of risks from work at height). Example: pre-installing guardrails on steelwork at ground level before craning into position.

Tier 2 — Prevent (reg 6(3) and 6(4)): Take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury (Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 6 — Avoidance of risks from work at height). This means collective measures first — scaffolding, guardrails, working platforms.

Tier 3 — Arrest (reg 6(5)): Where measures taken under tier 2 do not eliminate the risk of a fall, provide sufficient work equipment to minimise, so far as is reasonably practicable, the distance and consequences of a fall (Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 6 — Avoidance of risks from work at height). This is where fall-arrest harnesses, nets, and airbags sit — as a last resort, not a first choice.

Your risk assessment must document which tier applies to each hazard and why.

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Priority Hazards: Why Ladders and Fragile Roofs Must Head Your Assessment

Work at height is the biggest single cause of fatal and serious injury in the construction industry, particularly on smaller projects (Assessing all work at height). Over 60% of deaths during work at height involve falls from ladders, scaffolds, working platforms and roof edges (Assessing all work at height). Common causes are falls from ladders and through fragile roofs (HSE INDG401 — The Work at Height Regulations: a brief guide).

Any risk assessment for a task involving ladder access or fragile roof surfaces must address these scenarios explicitly and with task-specific detail — not bury them in generic entries.

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How Specific Must Your Hazard Descriptions Be? A Worked Example

Generic labels fail audit scrutiny because they give no information about the actual exposure or the controls needed. The table below shows the difference.

Compliant vs. Non-Compliant Hazard Entry

Element	❌ Non-Compliant Entry	✅ Regulation-Compliant Entry
Hazard description	Working at height	Operatives working from a mobile scaffold tower at approximately 4 metres above finished floor level to install ceiling-mounted cable trays in a live warehouse environment — risk of fall to lower level causing serious or fatal injury
Who is at risk	Workers	Two electricians on the platform; forklift operators and pedestrians working below
What regulation 6 step applies	Not stated	Tier 2 (prevent): collective measures via scaffold tower guardrails; Tier 3 (arrest): safety harness if collective measures temporarily removed
Why it fails / passes	Gives an auditor nothing to verify. Could apply to any task in any building. Does not identify equipment, elevation, surrounding activity, or relevant population.	Identifies equipment type, approximate working height, task, location type, and the exposed population — including third parties below. Directly maps to reg 6 hierarchy.

This level of specificity is what HSE inspectors look for and what a principal contractor's RAMS reviewer needs to sign off a method statement.

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Worked Example: Three Pre-Populated Risk Assessment Entries

Review and adapt all entries to your specific site, task, and work equipment before use. These entries are designed to illustrate regulatory compliance structure, not to substitute for site-specific assessment by a competent person.

Hazard Description	Who is at Risk	Likelihood / Severity / Risk Rating (Pre-Control)	Control Measures (WAH Hierarchy)	Residual Risk Rating	Review Date
Ladder access: Operative using a 6-metre extension ladder to access a flat roof for a condition survey. Risk of fall from ladder during ascent/descent causing serious injury.	Operative; members of public passing below on the pavement	L: 3 / S: 4 / RR: 12 (High)	Avoid: Not practicable — roof access required. Prevent: Industrial-grade ladder tied at top and footed at base; angle set at 75°; ladder extends at least 1 metre above landing point; no simultaneous two-way use; exclusion zone below established with barriers. Arrest: N/A — collective prevention measures sufficient for short-duration survey. Operative trained and competent.	L: 1 / S: 4 / RR: 4 (Low)	On any change to task, location, or equipment; or if near-miss reported
Fragile roof: Two operatives replacing roof lights on a profiled metal roof over a single-storey industrial unit. Risk of falling through fragile roof panel causing fatal injury.	Both operatives on roof; any person below the roof	L: 4 / S: 5 / RR: 20 (Very High)	Avoid: Not practicable — replacement must be carried out in situ. Prevent: Crawl boards or roof ladders spanning at least two purlins used at all times; physical barriers (guardrails/edge protection) erected around the work zone; fragile surface warning signs posted; no operative to stand directly on roof sheets. Competent supervisor present throughout. Reg 13 pre-use surface check completed and recorded before each session. Arrest: Safety net installed below working area to minimise fall distance and consequences in event of prevention measures failing (reg 6(5)).	L: 1 / S: 5 / RR: 5 (Medium)	Before each day's work; following any weather event; if roof structure or condition changes
Scaffold erection/dismantlement: Three-person scaffolding gang erecting a tube-and-fitting scaffold to 8 metres on an occupied commercial building. Risk of fall during erection sequence before guardrails are in place; risk to public from falling materials.	Scaffolders (all three); building occupants; passing public	L: 3 / S: 5 / RR: 15 (High)	Avoid: Not practicable — scaffold required as collective fall prevention for subsequent trades. Prevent: Erection and dismantlement carried out by competent scaffolders under the direction of a competent supervisor (WAH Regs 2005; NASC SG4 or equivalent manufacturer guidance). Sequence planned to establish collective fall protection at each lift before progressing. Exclusion zone with barriers and signage around base. Arrest: Safety harnesses with short lanyards used only during the brief transitional phases where collective protection cannot yet be in place — consistent with the principle that collective protection takes priority and harness use is minimised (hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/scaffoldinginfo.htm). Falling-object netting and toe boards fitted progressively.	L: 1 / S: 5 / RR: 5 (Medium)	On any design change; if weather conditions deteriorate; following inspection findings; before each shift

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Regulation 13 Pre-Use Checks: What Must Be Inspected Before Each Use

Regulation 13 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 requires every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the surface and every parapet, permanent rail or other fall protection measure of every place of work at height are checked on each occasion before the place is used (Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 13 — Inspection of places of work at height).

This is a before each use duty — not a weekly or monthly inspection obligation. It applies to the working surface itself and every piece of collective fall protection at that place. For a roof task, that means checking the roof surface condition, edge protection integrity, and any installed guardrails before operatives step onto the roof each day.

Record these checks. If a defect is found, work must not proceed until it is rectified.

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Worker Duties Under Regulation 14: Reporting Defects and Using Equipment Correctly

The WAH Regulations also impose direct duties on individual workers, not just on employers:

• Regulation 14(1): Every person working under the control of another person must report any activity or defect relating to work at height which they know is likely to endanger the safety of themselves or another person (Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 14 — Duties of persons at work).
• Regulation 14(2): Every person must use any work equipment or safety device provided for work at height in accordance with any training received and the instructions provided by the employer (Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 14 — Duties of persons at work).

These duties should be communicated in the method statement and toolbox talk that accompanies the risk assessment. Workers are not passive recipients of the RAMS — they carry statutory obligations.

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Overlapping Regulatory Duties: Manual Handling at Height

Callout: When Your WAH Risk Assessment Is Not Enough

A roofing RAMS that addresses falls but says nothing about the act of lifting roof slates, tile batches, or roll materials while working at height is incomplete. Lifting materials at height combines two distinct risk profiles: the risk of a fall (addressed by WAH Regs 2005) and the risk of musculoskeletal injury or a dropped load injuring others below. These are separate hazards requiring separate documented entries in your risk assessment — not a single catch-all row.

When assessing manual handling at height, ask: what is the weight being handled? what is the posture required at the point of lift? what is the consequence of dropping the load? Each of these generates its own control requirement. A roofing RAMS that merges both into one generic 'working at height' entry will not withstand audit scrutiny and may leave a significant liability gap.

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Pre-Use Compliance Checklist: Five WAH Duties Before Work Begins

Use this checklist before each working-at-height task begins. Sign and retain with your site documentation.

#	WAH Duty (Source)	Check	Signed
1	Planning and organisation — all work at height properly planned and organised (Work at Height: Frequently asked questions)	Risk assessment completed; method statement issued; supervision arrangements confirmed	☐
2	Competence — all persons involved are competent (Work at Height: Frequently asked questions)	Competence of operatives and supervisor verified; evidence on file	☐
3	Equipment selection — risks assessed; appropriate equipment selected using hierarchy (Work at Height: Frequently asked questions; reg 7 — collective protection priority)	Hierarchy applied in risk assessment; collective measures prioritised; equipment match confirmed against task	☐
4	Fragile surfaces — risks from fragile surfaces properly managed (Work at Height: Frequently asked questions)	Fragile surfaces identified; crawl boards / barriers / nets in place where required; operatives briefed	☐
5	Regulation 13 pre-use check — surface and fall protection measures checked before use (Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 13)	Surface condition checked; guardrails/parapets/edge protection inspected; defects recorded and resolved	☐

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When Your Risk Assessment Must Be Reviewed

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, reg 3 sets out the review triggers: an assessment must be reviewed if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, reg 3 — risk assessment).

For height work in practice, this means reviewing when:

• The task, location, or equipment changes
• A near-miss or incident occurs
• An operative reports a defect or new hazard under regulation 14
• Site conditions change materially (weather exposure, adjacent work, structural changes)
• A new person joins the team who was not covered by the original assessment

Note that regulation 13 pre-use checks are a separate, daily obligation — they do not replace a formal review of the risk assessment itself.

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From Risk Assessment to Method Statement: Linking RAMS Documentation Correctly

Method statements are widely used in the construction industry to help manage work at height and communicate what is required to all those involved (Assessing all work at height). The risk assessment and method statement are complementary, not interchangeable:

• The risk assessment identifies hazards, evaluates likelihood and severity, and selects control measures using the WAH hierarchy.
• The method statement translates those controls into a step-by-step safe working sequence — covering assembly, use, and dismantlement of any equipment, not just the operational phase.

A risk assessment without a corresponding method statement leaves operatives without instruction on how to apply the controls. A method statement without a grounding risk assessment has no regulatory foundation. The two documents must cross-reference each other and be issued together as RAMS.

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How ramsdocs Supports Working-at-Height Risk Assessments

Managing working-at-height risk assessments across multiple sites, trades, and task types creates a version-control problem that paper-based or generic-template approaches cannot solve reliably.

ramsdocs is built for UK contractors and H&S managers who need:

• Audit-ready documentation — every risk assessment is version-controlled with timestamps, issue history, and reviewer sign-off, so you can demonstrate compliance at any point.
• Task-specific templates — pre-structured for the WAH hierarchy of controls, with prompts that prevent generic hazard labels slipping through.
• Integrated review triggers — the platform flags assessments for review when review dates are reached or when linked incidents are logged.
• Instant sharing — issue RAMS to operatives, principal contractors, and clients directly from the platform, with read-receipt tracking.

[Create your working-at-height risk assessment in ramsdocs →]

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply only above a certain height? No. The Regulations contain no numeric height threshold. They apply wherever a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury — the risk of injury, not a fixed measurement, determines whether the Regulations apply (Work at Height: Frequently asked questions).

Can a self-employed contractor be subject to WAH Reg duties? Yes. The law requires self-employed contractors to assess the risk from work at height and go on to organise and plan the work so it is carried out safely (Assessing all work at height). The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, reg 3 also extends the assessment duty to relevant self-employed persons.

Is it acceptable to put a harness on workers as the primary control? No. The hierarchy must be followed systematically. It is not acceptable to select work equipment from lower down the hierarchy — for example, personal fall arrest such as harnesses and lanyards — in the first instance (Assessing all work at height). Collective prevention measures must be shown to be not reasonably practicable before fall-arrest equipment is relied upon.

How specific must a hazard description be? Specific enough that an auditor can identify the equipment, approximate elevation, task, location, and exposed population from the entry alone. A label such as 'working at height' gives none of this information and will not withstand inspection scrutiny.

When must a risk assessment be reviewed? Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, reg 3, an assessment must be reviewed if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid or following a significant change. This is separate from the regulation 13 duty to check the place of work before each use.

Do workers have personal duties under the WAH Regulations? Yes. Under regulation 14, every operative must report defects or dangerous activities they become aware of, and must use work equipment in accordance with their training and the instructions given (Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 14 — Duties of persons at work).

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This page is designed to help you understand the legal framework and structure your documentation. All risk assessments must be reviewed and adapted to the specific site, task, equipment, and workforce by a competent person before work begins. ramsdocs templates and worked examples are PC review-ready starting points, not substitutes for site-specific professional judgement.