School Work-at-Height Safe-Working Procedure

Use this procedure where employees undertake work at height at or for the school. The procedure must be adapted to the school’s actual activities and premises, including the arrangements for [responsible school role] and escalation through [escalation route].

Meaning of work at height

Work at height means work in any place where, if there were no precautions in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury.

Before work starts

Identify whether the proposed activity is work at height. Where it is, use appropriate arrangements to protect employees from falls and record those arrangements in the relevant school risk assessment or safe-working document.

The person arranging the work must confirm the task, location, people involved and the precautions to be used before work begins. The school must identify the equipment and arrangements that are appropriate to its actual task and premises; this procedure does not prescribe particular equipment.

Working arrangements

Employees must follow the relevant risk assessment, safe-working arrangements and instructions for the task. The arrangements must state how the work will be planned, how appropriate precautions will be selected, and who is responsible for supervision and escalation.

Only employees who have been identified by the school as suitable for the task may undertake it. The school must define the competence requirements and supervision arrangements for each activity in the relevant task documentation.

Unsafe work and changing conditions

Do not start or continue work where the required precautions are not in place, are no longer suitable, or conditions have changed. Stop the task, move to a safe position where possible, and report the issue to [responsible school role] using [escalation route].

Any defect or concern affecting the planned arrangements must be recorded in [school reporting record] and referred for a decision on whether the work can proceed. Work must not resume until the arrangements have been reviewed and confirmed as suitable.

Common fall hazards

The school’s task assessments should consider the actual places and activities involved. Falls from ladders and falls through fragile roofs are identified as common causes of falls from height; where either hazard is relevant, the task documentation must address it explicitly.

Records and review

Keep the relevant risk assessments, safe-working arrangements, staff instructions and records of controls in [school record location]. Review the arrangements when the activity, premises, precautions or conditions change, or when a defect or concern is reported.

Applicability

This procedure is applicable to maintained and academy primary and secondary schools in England where employees undertake work at height. It does not prescribe equipment, inspection intervals or maintenance tasks unsupported by the available source evidence.