The Work at Height Regulations 2005

UK Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 735 — creates 1 criminal offence.

Made

16 March 2005

In force from

6 April 2005

Extent

Not stated

Subject

Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries

Made under

Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations impose health and safety requirements with respect to work at height, with certain exceptions including by instructors or leaders in recreational climbing and caving. These Regulations give effect as respects Great Britain to Directive 2001/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No L195, 19.7.2001, p.46), amending Council Directive 89/655/EEC (OJ No L393, 30.12.89, p.13) concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work. They contain additional provisions, including provisions which replace regulations giving effect to certain provisions of Council Directives 89/391/EEC (OJ No L393, 30.12.89, p.1) concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace and 92/57/EEC (OJ No L245, 26.8.92, p.6) on the implementation of minimum health and safety requirements at temporary or mobile construction sites. The Regulations— impose duties relating to the organising and planning of work at height (regulation 4); require that persons at work be competent, or supervised by competent persons (regulation 5); prescribe steps to be taken to avoid risk from work at height (regulation 6 and Schedule 1); impose duties relating to the selection of work equipment (regulation 7); impose duties in relation to particular work equipment (regulation 8 and Schedules 2 to 6); impose duties for the avoidance of risks from fragile surfaces, falling objects and danger areas (regulations 9 to 11); require the inspection of certain work equipment and of places of work at height (regulations 12 and 13 and Schedule 7); impose duties on persons at work (regulation 14); provide for exemptions from certain provisions (regulations 15 and 16); and amend, repeal or revoke certain enactments (regulations 17 to19 and Schedule 8). A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business is available from the Health and Safety Executive, Safety Economics Unit, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS. A Transposition Note in relation to the implementation of the Directives can be obtained from the Health and Safety, International Branch at the same address. Copies of both these documents have been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament.

Offences created by this instrument

• Contravention of The Work at Height Regulations 2005 the instrument as a whole · Status not determined · Strict liability

What Parliament said about it

Contributions, debates and written statements mentioning this instrument by name. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

• Working at Height: Safety Commons · Westminster Hall · 2 May 2019 · Margaret Greenwood (Wirral West) (Lab)

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mr McCabe. I congratulate the hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss) on securing this important debate, and on her work as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on working at height, which produced a thought-provoking report in February. I thank her for her comprehensive and effective speech. From conservation work on Big Ben to pruning trees and cleaning windows, it is estimated that each year, more than 1 million British businesses and 10 million workers carry out tasks that involve some sort of working at…

• Working at Height: Safety Commons · Westminster Hall · 2 May 2019 · David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)

  I support the hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss) in commending the APPG report to the Minister and to the House as a whole. I have played a small part in the group, but was able to attend a number of sessions and helped to sign off the report’s recommendations. I have done so because it is self-evident and important that we must try to reduce still further the number of deaths and injuries caused by falls from height. My first memory of my dad was visiting him in hospital after he had suffered an industrial injury and was off work for six months. It is important to remember…

• Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill Commons · Commons Chamber · 11 May 2023 · Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)

  As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on working at height, I have been trying to get clarity for some time on the very specific Work at Height Regulations 2005. Can the Secretary of State tell me whether those regulations will be included or protected? The assurances that I have had so far have not provided the clarity that the sector needs.

• Window Cleaning Industry: Workplace Safety Commons · Commons Chamber · 17 December 2025 · The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)

  I am grateful to the right hon. Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) for securing this debate on this important subject, and for his very thoughtful speech. The Government place a great deal of importance on workplace safety, and I want to seek to reassure him and the House that we have an effective regulatory framework in place to secure the health, safety and wellbeing of those who work in window cleaning. Let me also offer my sympathies to his constituent, who suffered those life-changing injuries that he described while cleaning windows at a regular customer’s home last year. I…

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

Check the source

• This instrument on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text, including amendments made since
• Other instruments from 2005