Work at Height Safety Training: Harnesses, Ladders, Scaffolding and Falling Objects

Why Work at Height Deserves Your Full Attention

Falls from height are consistently one of the biggest causes of workplace deaths in Great Britain. Electricians are among those most at risk. On a typical week you might be up a stepladder fitting luminaires, on a scaffold running containment, or in a MEWP or on a tower pulling cable through a ceiling void.

This training video from HSE-Kit Safety Animation starts with a warning that many experienced tradespeople forget:

“Falling can become an accident even if it’s not from a great height. Only a few inches can be enough to cause an injury.”

That is why the Work at Height Regulations 2005 have no minimum height. If you could fall far enough to hurt yourself, you are working at height, and the regulations apply. Your employer has a general duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA) to provide safe systems of work. Under CDM 2015, work at height also has to be planned and coordinated before anyone starts on a construction project.

The Work at Height Hierarchy

Before we look at the video’s practical tips, remember the hierarchy set out in the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It comes up again and again in the ECS HS&E test:

1. Avoid work at height where reasonably practicable (for example, assemble equipment at ground level or use extendable tools)
2. Prevent falls using an existing safe place of work, or equipment with collective protection such as guardrails, scaffolds and MEWPs
3. Minimise the distance and consequences of a fall using equipment such as fall arrest harnesses, safety nets or airbags

Collective measures, which protect everyone, always come before personal measures, which protect only the person using them. A harness is further down the list than a guardrail for good reason.

Common Conditions That Lead to Falls

The video lists the conditions that most often turn into work at height accidents. It’s worth reading through them and asking yourself how many you have seen on site:

• An untrained worker given a job they are not competent to do
• A worker in poor health, for example with dizziness, fatigue or taking medication that affects balance
• Exposure to electric power, where a shock throws you off balance or makes you let go
• No harness, or a harness in poor condition
• An unfastened self-retracting lifeline
• Personal fall protection that is damaged or overdue for inspection
• Lack of planning
• Failure to follow work procedures
• Unauthorised work
• Falling objects

For electricians, the electrical hazard deserves special attention. Even a minor shock while you are up a ladder can cause a serious fall. Under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, you must never work on or near live conductors unless it’s unavoidable and proper precautions are in place. That makes safe isolation just as important at height as it is at ground level. Where there is any electrical risk, use non-conductive glass fibre (GRP) ladders rather than aluminium.

Falling Objects: The Hazard Below You

After people falling, one of the most common accidents is objects falling from height. A dropped screwdriver, a length of trunking or a box of fixings can seriously injure someone below. Regulation 10 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 specifically requires steps to prevent anything from falling where it could cause injury.

The video’s advice is simple and effective:

• Keep your work area tidy. Loose tools and offcuts can fall, and they also become trip hazards on the platform itself.
• Fit strong barriers at open edges, both above ground and around excavations, to stop people, machinery and materials from falling.
• Mark out and barrier the area below so people know there is overhead work and stay clear.
• Protect the upper level with nets, fences, toe boards or brick guards.
• Never throw materials up to or down from a working platform.

“Protect your workmates and they will protect you.”

The video also warns against dangerous shortcuts, such as passing tools up a ladder or accepting “help” that saves time but puts someone at risk. If a job needs a proper lifting method or a second person, plan it properly. For more practical advice, see our guide to 10 safety tips for working at height.

Scaffolding: Only Use Certified, Inspected Platforms

Scaffolding is one of the most common ways of working at height, so it must be in good condition, properly maintained and fully certified. On site, that means:

• Only use scaffolding that has been inspected and tagged. Look for the scaffold tag and check it’s in date before you climb.
• Check the edge protection. Main guardrails must be at least 950 mm high, intermediate guardrails must leave no gap bigger than 470 mm, and toe boards must be fitted to stop materials falling.
• Never overload the platform. Stacking drums of cable or pallets of materials on a scaffold not designed for that load can cause it to collapse.
• Never alter a scaffold yourself. Only a competent scaffolder should remove ties, boards or guardrails, even “just for a minute” to get cable through.
• Never use improvised scaffolding. Trestles made from pallets, planks balanced on stepladders or makeshift platforms are exactly what the video calls “unnecessarily dangerous”.

Scaffolds and access equipment are also work equipment under PUWER 1998. That means they must be suitable for the task, properly maintained and used only by people who have been trained to use them.

Harnesses and Anchor Points

Where fall arrest equipment is needed, it only works if it’s in good condition and used correctly. The video’s key points are:

• Wear a harness at the height your company requires, and follow the site’s rescue plan
• Check every part (webbing, stitching, buckles, D-rings, lanyard and connectors) before each use
• Make sure the equipment has an in-date inspection record. HSE guidance recommends a detailed inspection by a competent person at least every six months, or every three months for heavy use.
• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions, including how to fit and adjust the harness
• Fasten all straps securely so the harness fits closely without restricting movement

The most important technical point in the video is about anchor position:

“Always use the anchor points over your head. In an eventual fall, being anchored to a lower level can cause a strong impact on your body.”

Anchoring low increases your free fall distance before the lanyard and energy absorber take the load. That means bigger forces on your body and a real risk of hitting the structure or ground before you stop. Harnesses count as personal protective equipment under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, so your employer must provide them free of charge and you must use them as trained. For a deeper look at the kit itself, read our guide to fall protection, lifelines and harness classifications.

Ladders: Right Ladder, Right Set-Up, Right Technique

Ladders are the most common access equipment electricians use, and they are involved in a large share of falls. They are acceptable for low-risk, short-duration work, but only if you set them up and use them properly:

• Choose the right ladder for the job: correct height, correct type (stepladder or leaning ladder), and made to BS EN 131
• Check its condition before use, including stiles, rungs, feet and locking bars
• Check the ground is firm and level before setting up
• Never pack the feet with bricks, blocks or offcuts to level it
• Never stand the ladder on other objects to gain extra height, such as boxes, tables or the back of a van
• Mark out and barrier the area around the base so nobody walks into it
• Keep three points of contact and stay centred between the stiles
• Never overreach. If you cannot reach, climb down and move the ladder.

For leaning ladders, use the 1-in-4 rule (one unit out for every four units up, roughly 75°) and secure the ladder by tying, using a stability device or having someone foot it. For more on hazards and precautions, see our work at height toolbox talk.

Training Is Not Optional

The video ends on a point that sums up the whole topic:

“Someone who works at height must be trained. A trained worker is going to be safe. Avoid learning about work safety from an accident.”

Under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, everyone involved in work at height must be competent. For the work they are doing, that means having the right training, knowledge and experience, or being supervised by someone who does. If a fall from height causes a specified injury, or keeps someone off normal duties for more than seven days, it must be reported under RIDDOR 2013.

How Sparky Safety Can Help

Work at Height is one of the 11 core topics in the ECS HS&E test. Questions on the hierarchy of control, ladder angles, scaffold inspection intervals and harness checks come up regularly. The Sparky Safety app helps you prepare with:

• 300+ ECS HS&E practice questions across all 11 topics, including a dedicated Work at Height section
• Realistic mock tests that recreate test conditions so you can check you’re ready
• Study guides and reference guides covering the Work at Height Regulations 2005, PUWER, RIDDOR and more
• 10 BS 7671 calculators for the technical side of your work

Download Sparky Safety today and make sure your work at height knowledge is solid on test day and on site.