This working at height toolbox talk takes about ten minutes. It covers what counts as work at height, the three questions to ask before any job (avoid, prevent, minimise), the daily ladder check, how to set up and use a ladder or stepladder, fragile roofs and when to stop. It ends with four questions for the group.
On this page
Before you give this talk
This talk is for anyone who uses a ladder or stepladder, goes on a roof, works from a platform or works near an edge. That covers trades, maintenance staff, window cleaners and warehouse staff as well as roofers and scaffolders. It is a refresher for people who already do the work. It does not replace planning the job, the risk assessment or the training someone needs before they use a tower or a powered platform.
- Read it through once and take out the parts that do not apply. If your team never goes near a roof, skip that section.
- Bring a ladder or a stepladder so that the pre-use check can be done for real.
- Give it where the work at height happens, at the start of the shift.
- Allow ten minutes. The words take about five. The ladder check and the questions take the rest.
- Have a record sheet ready. Our free toolbox talk record sheet has space for the key points and the names.
The talk
The shaded boxes are the words to say. Use your own where they come more naturally.
Opening
This talk is about working at height. It will take about ten minutes.
Working at height means working anywhere you could fall far enough to be hurt. A roof and a scaffold, yes. Also a stepladder, a loading dock, a mezzanine edge or a hole in the floor. The law gives no minimum height.
The Health and Safety Executive says working at height is still one of the biggest causes of deaths and major injuries at work, and that the common cases are falls from ladders and falls through fragile surfaces. Ordinary jobs, done every day.
Three questions before any job
Before any job at height there are three questions, and they are asked in this order.
One. Can we do it from the ground? A long-handled tool, or bringing the thing down to work on it. If the answer is yes, that is how we do the job.
Two. If we have to go up, can we stop a fall from happening? That means working from somewhere that already has edge protection, or using equipment with guardrails: a scaffold, a tower, a scissor lift.
Three. If a fall could still happen, what cuts down how far and how hard? Nets, airbags, a harness.
Notice where the ladder comes in that list. A ladder does not stop you falling. So a ladder is for light work that does not take long, where the risk is low. As a guide, if you would be up a ladder for more than thirty minutes at a time, we should be using something else.
Check the ladder before you climb
Do this check on the ladder you brought, then ask one of the team to do it.
Every working day, before you use a ladder or a stepladder, check it. It takes a minute.
The stiles, which are the two long sides. Not bent, not damaged.
The feet. All there, not worn, and clean. If the feet are caked in mud, it is the mud touching the ground and not the feet.
The rungs. None bent, worn, loose or missing.
The locking bars on a stepladder. Working, and fully engaged.
The platform and the treads on a stepladder. Not split, not buckled, not slippery.
If anything is wrong, do not use it. Take it out of use and tell me.
Setting up and using a ladder
Setting up a leaning ladder. Firm, level ground. One out for every four up. Tie it where you can, and rest the top against something solid. Never against a plastic gutter or glass.
If you are using it to get on to another level, it needs to be tied, and it needs to stand at least a metre above where you step off, so that you have something to hold.
On the ladder. Face it and hold it while you climb. Keep three points of contact. Do not work off the top three rungs. Do not overreach: keep your belt buckle between the stiles. Carry light tools only, on a belt if you can.
On a stepladder. All four feet on the floor, locks engaged, and face the work where you can. Stay off the top three steps unless there is a proper handhold.
Never stand a ladder on something to get more height. Not on a pallet, not on bricks, not in the back of a van.
Roofs, weather and speaking up
Roofs. Treat every roof as fragile until someone competent has confirmed that it is not. Rooflights and old fibre-cement sheets will not take your weight. Nobody goes on a roof here unless the job has been planned.
Weather. If it is blowing a gale, icy or pouring down, work at height waits.
Two things the law asks of you. Use the equipment the way you have been trained and told to. And if you see anything at height that is unsafe, a missing guardrail, a damaged ladder, a board out of a scaffold, report it straight away.
Nobody on this job will be told off for coming down and saying it is not right.
Key points to leave with the team
Write these on the record sheet.
- Ground first, then guardrails, then fall protection. A ladder is for light, short, low-risk work.
- Check the ladder every working day before you use it. If it has a defect, it is out of use.
- One out for every four up, tied where possible, three points of contact, belt buckle between the stiles.
- Every roof is fragile until a competent person says otherwise.
- Stop for bad weather. Report anything unsafe straight away.
Questions to ask the group
Ask them one at a time and wait for an answer. Write down what comes back.
- "Which jobs do we do at height that could be done from the ground?" You are listening for the task that needs a different tool or a different method.
- "Show me what you check on this ladder before you use it." Hand it over. You want stiles, feet, rungs and locks without prompting.
- "Where on this site could you fall and be hurt, other than off a ladder or a roof?" Loading docks, mezzanines, pits, lorry beds and open edges are easy to forget.
- "What would make you stop a job at height, and who would you tell?" If the answer is "nothing" or "nobody", go over the last section again.
The law behind the talk
You do not need to read this part out. It is here so that you can answer questions and know the talk is sound.
The three questions come from regulation 6 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which sets them out in order:
- Avoid. Work must not be carried out at height where it is reasonably practicable to do it safely otherwise.
- Prevent. Where work is done at height, the employer must take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, anyone falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.
- Minimise. Where a risk of a fall remains, the employer must, so far as is reasonably practicable, provide equipment to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall, and give additional training and instruction or take other measures to prevent one.
HSE adds that at each step you should consider measures that protect everyone, such as guardrails, before measures that protect only one person, such as a harness.
What counts as work at height. The Regulations define it as work in any place, including at or below ground level, where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. No minimum height is given. HSE says it does not include walking up and down a permanent staircase in a building.
Planning, weather and competence. Regulation 4 requires work at height to be properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out only when the weather does not put health or safety at risk. Regulation 5 requires everyone involved to be competent, or supervised by a competent person while being trained. HSE says you do not need a formal qualification to use a ladder at work. You need to be competent.
The duties on workers. Regulation 14 requires anyone working under another person's control to report any activity or defect relating to work at height that they know is likely to endanger safety, and to use equipment in line with their training and instructions.
Ladders. HSE's guidance on ladders and stepladders says they are not banned, and can be a sensible option for low-risk, short-duration tasks, though they should not automatically be the first choice. The thirty minutes, the one-in-four rule, the top three rungs, the belt buckle and the daily pre-use check in the talk all come from that guidance. They are HSE's recommendations, not figures written into the Regulations.
Inspections. HSE separates the pre-use check, done by the user each working day and not recorded, from detailed visual inspections, which are the employer's responsibility, done at fixed intervals and recorded. Our ladder inspection checklist covers both.
After the talk
- Record it. Topic, date, the key points, who was there and who was not.
- Deal with any ladder that failed the check. Take it out of use and label it before someone else picks it up.
- Follow up the first question. If the team named a job that could be done from the ground, look at what it would take.
- Catch up with anyone who missed it before they next work at height.
- Give it again when the work, the equipment or the team changes, and before a job at height the team does not often do.
For another talk written to be read out, see the manual handling toolbox talk.
Recording this talk in SafetyPro360
In SafetyPro360 you can record this talk with its title, topic, date, duration and the key points above. You choose who was required to attend and mark who did, and anyone who missed it stays on an outstanding list until they have had the talk. A defective ladder or an unsafe edge raised in the talk can be entered as an action with a person and a due date. The product keeps the record. It does not contain the talk itself and does not collect signatures.
Questions people ask
What should a working at height toolbox talk cover?
What counts as work at height, the order of control (avoid it, prevent a fall, then minimise the distance and consequences), the daily ladder check, how to set up and use a leaning ladder and a stepladder, fragile roofs, weather, and the duty to report defects. It should include a real ladder check and questions for the team.
What counts as working at height?
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 define it as work in any place, including at or below ground level, where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury if precautions were not taken. There is no minimum height. HSE says walking up and down a permanent staircase in a building is not work at height.
Are ladders banned at work?
No. HSE says ladders and stepladders are not banned under health and safety law, and can be a sensible and practical option for low-risk, short-duration tasks. They should not automatically be the first choice. As a guide, HSE recommends using other equipment if the task would mean staying up a ladder for more than 30 minutes at a time.
Do you need training to use a ladder at work?
You need to be competent. HSE lists the idea that you must be formally qualified before using a ladder at work as a myth. Competence comes from a mix of training, knowledge and experience, and someone who is still being trained should work under the supervision of a competent person.
How often should ladders be checked?
HSE's guidance is that the person using the ladder should do a pre-use check at the beginning of each working day and after something has changed, such as the ladder being dropped. These checks need not be recorded. Detailed visual inspections are the employer's responsibility. They should be done at fixed intervals, following the manufacturer's instructions, and recorded.
Where this comes from
- Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 6 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 2 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 4 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 5 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 14 (legislation.gov.uk)
- HSE: Introduction to working at height safely
- HSE: Safe use of ladders and stepladders
- HSE: How and when to use a ladder at work
- HSE: How to check your ladder is safe before you use it
- HSE: Types of ladder and using them safely
- HSE: Securing ladders and ladders used for access
- HSE: Inspecting the condition of ladders
- HSE: Common work at height myths
- HSE: Fragile surfaces
This guide is general information for small employers in Great Britain, checked against the sources above on the date shown. It is not legal advice. If something serious depends on it, check the source or ask a competent adviser.