PHW
Safety packs > Working at height

Working at height

Anyone whose work could involve a fall liable to cause injury: users of ladders and stepladders, people working near roof lights and other fragile surfaces or an unprotected edge, MEWP operators, and anyone below who could be struck by a falling object.

The hazard

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply with no minimum height. Falls from height are the single largest cause of workplace deaths, and most are short falls from ladders, stepladders and fragile surfaces rather than falls from scaffolds.

The pack works through avoid, prevent, minimise in that order: ladders for short duration low risk work only, set at the correct angle with three points of contact maintained, treating every roof light and cement sheet as fragile, toe boards and exclusion zones against falling objects, scaffold inspection before use and at least every 7 days, and a rescue plan in place before anyone goes up on a harness.

The law that applies

What is in the pack

One hazard, done completely, for the whole firm.

Implementation guidethe legal position and the order to do it in
Risk assessmentevery hazard and control, ready to make site-specific
Safe system of workthe one to put up where the work happens
Inspection and monitoring recordpre-use checks and periodic review
Training delivery packthe session your own supervisor delivers
Theory test candidate paperblank, to be answered in ink
Practical assessment recordon your machine or task, on your site
Written authorisationnames the person and the equipment or task
Toolbox talkswith attendance sheets
Register and refresher trackerturns a one off into a system
One document held back

The pack also has a theory test answer key. It is supplied separately to the employer, not published in the pack itself, so the test stays a genuine assessment when your own supervisor marks it.

An optional verified certificate per person

Not required to be compliant, but available where a customer, principal contractor or insurer wants third-party evidence.

You assess your own people in-house using the pack, and send PHW the completed records. PHW checks the records and, where they hold up, issues a certificate carrying a QR code that resolves to a live verification page. The certificate states plainly that the assessment was carried out in-house and verified by PHW. It is not a record of PHW having carried out the assessment itself, and records that are too thin are rejected rather than certified.

Which sectors need this

Construction

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Warehousing

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Agriculture

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