Chapter 17 Working at height and roofwork

There are two broad causal categories of falls associated with:

In regard to the means of access to the work point (workstation) this is by far the most common cause of fatality/accident and the means can be by portable ladder, roof ladder, or a mobile powered elevating platform (MEWP). All too often these have proved to be inadequate for the task, resulting in falls through fragile roofs, over a roof edge, or from the top of plant. It is important therefore that all work places must have in place suitable and sufficient safeguards to prevent people being injured as a result of falling from any height likely to cause personal injury (HSE, 2013).