What is work at height?
February 11th 2010

When you mention work at height many people automatically think of roofwork or construction, but work at height is in fact an inherent part of many jobs from window cleaning and maintenance of air conditioning units through to decorating, maintaining office lighting and even putting up notices in a school or hospital.

As a general rule, if a person can fall (even if they are at or below ground level) then they are working at height so need to be protected as well as trained on how to carry out the task and use any equipment safely. In fact 60% of falls from height occur from below head height, so it is essential that all tasks are assessed thoroughly before work is carried out.

The following list is by no means exhaustive but provides an idea as to what jobs involve work at height:

External

Air Conditioning Units Maintenance & CleaningBoiler Maintenance

CCTV

Chimney Inspections

Fascia & Soffit Maintenance

Lightning Conductor/Maintenance

Parapet/Balustrade Inspection & Maintenance

Plant Room Access

Rooflight Cleaning/Maintenance

Window Cleaning/Maintenance

Internal

Boiler maintenance

Curtain & blind removal/cleaning

Electrical equipments maintenance

Emergency lighting

Lift shaft maintenance

Lighting maintenance

PA System maintenance

Signage maintenance

Sprinkler system maintenance

A more comprehensive list of work at height tasks can be found in the Technical Papers section under Downloads at www.safesite.co.uk.