Work at height and the law — Working at Height Practice

Sample questions

1. 01Which of these best states the legal test for work at height?

   • AWork where a fall could injure, judged with no precautions
   • BWork from a ladder, tower, scaffold or MEWP above the floor
   • CWork where the Regulations require guard-rails or harnesses
   • DWork above 2 m where a fall could cause a serious injury

   Why: The definition in reg 2(1) asks one thing: if the precautions the Regulations require were not taken, could someone fall far enough to be injured? There is no minimum height, so the 2 m version is wrong. It is not limited to particular kit either, because work beside an open pit at ground level counts too.

2. 02You are fixing containment from a scaffold platform with full guard-rails and toe-boards. Is this work at height?

   • AYes, as the test asks what would happen with no precautions
   • BNo, because the guard-rails remove any chance of a fall
   • COnly if the platform is 2 m or more above the floor beneath it
   • DOnly while the guard-rails are being put up or taken down

   Why: You judge whether a job is work at height as if the required precautions were not there. The guard-rails are the reason the platform is safe, not the reason it falls outside the law. The 2 m figure belongs to the reg 12(4) inspection rule, not to the definition.

3. 03On the third floor of a fit-out, you are fixing trunking at floor level next to a riser opening in the slab that has not yet been fire stopped. Which statement is right?

   • AIt is not work at height until the fire stopping is fitted
   • BIt is work at height only if the riser drops several floors
   • CIt is work at height, as you could fall through the opening
   • DIt is not work at height, as you stand on a solid floor slab

   Why: The definition includes places at or below ground level, so an opening beside you that you could fall through makes it work at height even with both feet on the floor. The fire stopping is what would remove the opening; until then the fall risk is there. No depth figure applies: the test is whether a fall could injure.