A working at height risk assessment example is best drawn from a job everyone does badly: clearing gutters. This one is a two-storey house, a ladder for the short runs and a tower for the long one, two operatives, a footpath below. Five hazards, each assessed with who is at risk, the likelihood and severity, the control and the residual risk. The HSE's work at height law page, cited below, says the purpose of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 is to prevent death and injury caused by a fall from height; the assessment is where that starts. The risk assessment template on this site prints the same rows from your own job, free.
Hazard one: the fall
Who: the operatives. How: from the ladder or the platform. Likelihood without control: high; severity: fatal. Controls: the tower for any run longer than a ladder's reach, the ladder footed and tied at the correct angle for short runs, three points of contact, no overreaching, the platform's guardrails. Residual: low. This row is the one the approver reads first.
Hazards two and three: the ladder and the fragile surface
The ladder: inspected before use, on firm level ground, secured, the right class for the work. The fragile surface: the conservatory roof below the gutter, never stepped on, with the tower positioned so no one needs to. Each row names the control and the residual risk, and the method statement will place each at its step.
Hazards four and five: dropped tools and the public
Dropped tools and debris: who is at risk is anyone below, and the control is an exclusion zone on the footpath, a bucket on the platform, nothing thrown. The public on the footpath: barriers and signage, and the second operative as banksman while the first is up.
The record and the review
Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, cited below, requires every employer to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees, and regulation 3(6) requires an employer with five or more employees to record the significant findings and any group of employees especially at risk. The example's significant findings are the fall and the public; the review is triggered by a change of house, weather or crew. DailyLogDesk Pro keeps the assessment against the job; the template on this site prints it.
Questions people ask about working at height risk assessment example
Can this be done from a ladder alone?
For short-duration, low-risk runs where the ladder can be secured, the regulations allow a ladder; the assessment is where that judgement is recorded.
Where is the rescue plan?
In the method statement for the task, for any work where a fall arrest is used; on a guarded platform it is the emergency arrangements block.
Is the template free?
Yes, without an account.