The Working at Height Regulations 2005

The Working at Height Regulations 2005

NEW legislation regarding working at height became law in April 2005, the Working at Height Regulations 2005. Falls from height account for almost 25% of deaths at work each year. In 2003/04 falls from height at work resulted in 67 deaths and nearly 4000 major injuries.
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause personal injury. They place duties on employers, the self-employed, and any person who controls the work of others (e.g. facilities managers or building owners who may contract others to work at height) to the extent they control the work. The Regulations came into force on the 6th April 2005.

The Regulations themselves are available from the HSE and can be accessed by clicking on: http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2005/20050735.htm This is a complete copy of the Regulations as issued by HMSO.

The HSE have issued a Guidance Note dealing with the subject and this is available by clicking on: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg401.pdf This guidance note gives an introduction to the Regulations themselves and also contains a lot of very useful, easy to read information.

Answers to some of the questions you might have regarding the subject are available from the HSE Construction Division by clicking on: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/pdf/fallsqa.pdf This 17-page document contains a lot of practical advice on how the Regulations should be applied in the workplace and deals with 25 different aspects of working at height.

Frank Cooper MIOSH RSP