Work at Height Permit
What is Working at Height?
Working at height means any work where, if precautions were not taken, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury, this includes work:
- above ground/floor level
- where a person could fall from an edge, through an opening or fragile surface, or,
- where a person could fall from ground/floor level into an opening in a floor or a hole in the ground.
Work at Height Equipment
Work at height should be avoided but if this is not possible, equipment and measures must be put in place to prevent a fall occurring or to minimise the consequences of the fall. Staff who instruct others to work at heights must comply with the University's Instruction and Information on Work at Height.
A Work at Height permit must be in place for all work involving tower scaffolds, scaffolding, rope access techniques or Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWPs), and must be considered for roof work and ladder usage where risk assessments deem it appropriate. (Please refer to the separate Permits SOP ES007).
A Work at Height permit would not be required for the use of step ladders, podium steps, hop up platforms, trestles (fitted with guard rails) or use of a step stool/kick stool for working at height for a short duration.
Work equipment used for working at height must be deemed suitable for the task in hand and must be routinely checked to ensure that it continues to be safe for use. Further information on inspection is included here.
All who need to use access equipment (which includes ladders and step ladders) to carry out work activities must understand the risks and suitable control measures required to mitigate those risks.
Further information about working at height is available on the Health & Safety Services webpages here.