Choosing a ladder for the job, setting it up safely, climbing correctly, and what a tower's guard rails and toe boards do.
When a ladder is the right choice
Avoid work at height where reasonably practicable, for example by completing the task from ground level. Otherwise assess the task and choose suitable equipment. A ladder may suit low-risk, short, light work where equipment with better fall protection is not justified. The 30-minute figure is a guide: if the task would keep you on a ladder longer than that at one time, consider alternative equipment. A shorter job can still require a platform or tower because of its risks. Anyone using a ladder at work must be competent, or work under the supervision of a competent person while they are being trained.
What counts as work at height
The test is injury, not height. HSE explains that work at height is work in any place where, without precautions, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. There is no minimum height: it covers working on a ladder or a flat roof, near a fragile surface someone could fall through, and beside an opening in a floor or a hole in the ground. The 2 m figure you may hear belongs to other duties, such as the 7-day inspection of construction platforms.
Setting up a leaning ladder
Stand a leaning ladder on a firm, level base and rest its top against a sound surface, clear of glazing or fragile gutters. Do not improvise levelling with loose packing, and never stand a ladder on something that can move, such as a pallet, bricks, a van, a tower or a MEWP: if it is too short, use a longer ladder or other equipment. Use about 1 in 4: one unit out for each four units up, giving an angle near 75 degrees. If the top rests 8 m above the ground, the foot is about 2 m from the wall (8 ÷ 4). Secure it against slipping: first try tying both stiles to a suitable point, then an effective stability device or secure wedging. Another person footing the ladder is the last resort.
If a task needs you to reach further to one side than the ladder allows, get down and reposition it rather than leaning out. HSE's quick check is that your belt buckle, or navel, stays within the stiles.
Overhead electricity
Check for overhead power lines before raising, moving or using a ladder. HSE’s ladder guidance sets a horizontal separation of at least 6 m for work near a line, unless it has been made dead or protected by insulation. A non-conductive ladder, such as fibreglass or timber, adds a precaution for electrical work; it does not remove that clearance requirement near an unprotected live line.
Climbing and working safely
When climbing, maintain three hand-and-foot contacts: two hands and one foot, or two feet and one hand. Keep tools and materials light and arrange them so you can grip. Do not work off the top three rungs of a leaning ladder. Try to have the ladder extend at least 1 m, or three rungs, above where you are working. Where a ladder is the way up to another level, tie it and make sure it extends at least 1 m above the landing point, so there is something to hold on to. Do not use a stepladder to reach another level unless it is designed for that. For a stepladder, do not stand and work on the top three steps, including the top, unless there is a suitable handhold. Follow its permitted standing levels. A brief task needing both hands may use two feet and body support against the stepladder, provided the risk assessment supports that position. Set a stepladder facing the work rather than side on where you can, with all four feet on the ground and any locks engaged. Avoid side loading, such as drilling side-on into brick or concrete from the steps; if it cannot be avoided, tie the steps so they cannot tip over, or use more suitable equipment.
Check the ladder before each use for damaged rungs, bent stiles and worn feet, and take a damaged ladder out of use. Before every use of a telescopic ladder, also check that it works properly and that the lock on each section holds.
Roofs
All roof work is high risk, even a short job. Treat every roof as fragile until a competent person has confirmed it is not, and never trust any sheeted roof, whatever it is made of, to take a person's weight, including at the ridge and purlins. Fragile rooflights can be hard to see, or hidden under paint. Work on or near a fragile surface needs a safe system, such as a platform beneath the roof, stagings, guard rails or nets.
A sloping roof needs scaffolding to stop people and materials falling from the edge, with edge protection at the eaves. For a task measured in minutes, a properly secured ladder to reach the roof and a proper roof ladder on it may be used instead. On a flat roof, a secure double guardrail and toeboard round the edge prevent falls.
Mobile elevating work platforms
A MEWP is used on firm, level ground, with its outriggers extended and chocked before the platform is raised, guard rails and toe boards on the platform, and a maximum safe wind speed set. Where someone could still fall from the platform, they wear a harness on a short work-restraint lanyard clipped to the anchor point the manufacturer provides in the basket. Have a rescue plan and practise it: someone on the ground must know how to work the ground controls. A MEWP is thoroughly examined by a competent person at least every six months, or as an examination scheme sets out, and its operators need training for its category and familiarisation with the model.
Mobile towers
Guard rails at a tower platform help prevent people falling, while toe boards help keep tools and materials from falling onto those below. Fit the complete structure, bracing and stabilisers as the manufacturer specifies, on a firm, level base with castors locked. Edge protection does not replace those stability provisions. Never move the tower with people or materials aboard. Before moving it, reduce its height to 4 m or less, check overhead for power lines and other obstructions, check the ground is firm, level and free of potholes, and push or pull it by hand from the base only. Do not move it in windy conditions.
A competent person inspects a tower after it is assembled and then at suitable intervals: where it is used for construction work and someone could fall 2 m or more from the platform, after assembly and then every 7 days, with each result recorded and kept until the next. Many people are hurt each year when towers overturn. Never use a ladder on a tower, never let bricks or blocks take the weight of any part of it, and never build it higher than the manufacturer recommends.
A working platform used for construction from which someone could fall 2 m or more must have been inspected in that position within the previous 7 days. A scaffold from which a person could fall 2 m or more is inspected, with a report by a competent person, on completion and at least weekly after that, and always after any alteration. Scaffold tag systems are not a legal requirement: a tag is a useful way to show users that the scaffold has been inspected, alongside the reports, never in place of them.