Working at Height Course: Electrical Safety Training

A fall that puts an electrician in hospital does not have to be from a roof. It can be off the steps in a corridor, through a riser left open, or off the van roof while untying the ladders. So much electrical work involves ladders, stepladders, towers, scaffold platforms and roof access that planning for work at height is part of almost every job.

Consider a typical day for an electrician: climbing a stepladder to fit downlights, using a ladder to access a loft for cable routing, working from a mobile tower to install containment at high level, or accessing a flat roof to install solar PV panels. Each of these tasks involves working at height, and each carries a risk of a fall that could cause serious injury or death.

The consequences of a fall extend beyond the immediate injury. A back, pelvis or head injury can end a career, and even a short fall from a stepladder can keep you off work for weeks. Working at height training teaches you to assess the risks, choose the right equipment, and work safely, protecting both your health and your livelihood.

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply in Great Britain; Northern Ireland has its own regulations that follow the same pattern. They apply to work in any place, including at or below ground level, where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury, and to getting to and from that place. There is no minimum height: even standing on a stepladder is working at height under the Regulations.

The Regulations place duties on employers, the self-employed, and anyone who controls the work of others, to the extent of their control. The key duties are: (1) avoid work at height where it is reasonably practicable to carry out the work safely without going to height, (2) where work at height cannot be avoided, prevent falls by using an existing safe place of work or work equipment that prevents a fall, (3) where the risk of a fall remains, use work equipment that minimises the distance and consequences of a fall.

The Regulations also require that work at height is properly planned, including for emergencies and rescue, appropriately supervised and carried out by competent people; that the place where work at height is done is safe; that equipment is inspected where its safety depends on how it is installed or assembled, or where it is exposed to deterioration; that risks from fragile surfaces are properly controlled; and that risks from falling objects are properly managed. A working platform used for construction work, from which a person could fall 2 metres or more, must have been inspected within the previous 7 days.

Schedule 1 of the Regulations sets out requirements for existing places of work and means of access at height. Schedules 2 to 6 cover specific equipment types including guard-rails, working platforms, ladders, and personal fall protection systems. As with asbestos awareness, the law asks for competence rather than a particular course or card, and you can record your study as part of your CPD portfolio.

Regulation 6 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 sets the order in which measures are chosen: avoid, prevent, minimise. Regulation 7 adds that collective protection must be given priority over personal protection when choosing equipment. You work through the steps in order, and you cannot jump to a harness if a guard-rail, tower or MEWP is reasonably practicable.

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Ladders and stepladders turn up on a lot of electrical jobs, and they are not banned. HSE says they can be a sensible and practical option for low-risk, short tasks, but they should not be the automatic first choice. Understanding when a ladder is justified and how to use it safely is essential.

Under Schedule 6 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, a ladder may be used only where a risk assessment has shown that more suitable equipment is not justified because the risk is low, and either the use is short or there are features on site that cannot be changed. The Regulations give no number of minutes. As a guide, HSE says to consider alternative equipment if a task would keep you up a leaning ladder or stepladder for more than about 30 minutes at a time.

The 1 in 4 rule for leaning ladders means one unit out from the wall for every four units up, about 75°. A ladder used to get to another level should be tied and should extend at least 1 metre above the landing. Stand it on firm, level, clean ground, and stop it slipping: tie it, or use an effective stability device, or wedge it, and only foot it as a last resort.

Keep three points of contact while climbing and, where you can, at the work position: two feet and one hand, or on a stepladder, two feet and your body supported by the steps when you need both hands for a short time. Stay off the top three rungs, and keep your belt buckle inside the stiles. Installing a consumer unit, fitting multiple accessories, or pulling cables are tasks that need both hands for longer and should be done from a more suitable platform. HSE advises a non-conductive ladder, such as fibreglass or timber, for any electrical work.

Before use each day, the user checks the stiles, feet, rungs or treads, locks and any platform for damage. The employer also arranges detailed visual inspections by a competent person, in line with the manufacturer's instructions, and records them. If you find a defect that is likely to endanger someone, take the ladder out of use and report it.

A mobile tower gives you a guarded platform, room for tools and a place to work with both hands. It is collective protection, and it is worth considering whenever a ladder job would run longer than about 30 minutes at a time or needs both hands for more than a moment.

The key safety factor is stability. Older training often taught a fixed height-to-base ratio, but HSE gives no fixed figure: do not exceed the safe height-to-base ratio in that tower's instruction manual, and fit stabilisers or outriggers whenever the manual requires them. Never put bricks or blocks under a leg, castor or base plate.

Before each use of a mobile tower, check: all braces and guard-rails are correctly fitted, the platform is fully decked with no gaps, toe-boards are in place, castors are locked, stabilisers are fitted where the manual requires them, and the tower stands on firm, level ground. A tower must be inspected after it is assembled and before it is used, and for construction work where a fall of 2 metres or more is possible, it must have been inspected within the previous 7 days. Never move a tower with anyone or anything on the platform, do not move it in windy conditions, and climb only by the built-in ladder or stairway.

HSE guidance says towers should be built and taken down by trained, competent people. PASMA training is an industry scheme and one good way to show that competence, but the law does not name a card, and a site may set its own training rules on top of the law.

Personal fall protection systems are used when collective protection (guard-rails, scaffolding, towers, MEWPs) is not reasonably practicable. For electricians, this most commonly applies to work on flat roofs without edge protection, work near unprotected edges in buildings under construction, and work on rooftop solar PV installations. HSE prefers work restraint, which stops you reaching the edge, to fall arrest.

A personal fall arrest system has three parts: a full body harness (a belt is not acceptable for fall arrest); a lanyard with an energy absorber or a retractable fall arrester; and a suitable anchor, strong enough for any foreseeable load, placed as high above you as possible and never below your feet. Fall arrest must not be used where there is not enough clear space below for the system to stop you, allowing for any swing, so check the manufacturer's figures.

Critical to any fall arrest system is rescue planning. Someone left hanging in a harness is in danger, so they must be rescued as soon as it can safely be done. HSE guidance says the rescue plan should rely on equipment and trained people on site, not on the emergency services, and the plan must be in place before the work starts.

Harnesses and lanyards are checked by the user before each use. HSE recommends recorded detailed inspections by a competent person at least every six months, and at least every three months for lanyards in frequent or arduous use. Any equipment in doubt is withdrawn and passed to a competent person, and a lanyard that has arrested a fall is never reused.

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