Falls must be managed before anyone climbs, steps onto an exposed surface or works beside an opening. Start by removing the need to work at height where reasonably practicable. If that cannot be done, use the most reliable physical controls available, provide safe access, and make sure the people doing and supervising the work understand the system.
Falls are a major cause of death and serious injury at Australian workplaces. Falls can also occur through openings, into excavations, or from plant, vehicles and loading areas.
Common fall hazards
On building and trade work, watch for:
- unprotected roof, floor, platform and formwork edges
- fragile or brittle roofing, skylights and hidden penetrations
- incomplete scaffolds, missing guardrails and unsafe access points
- ladders used on poor footing, for long-duration work or where three points of contact cannot be maintained
- voids, shafts, trenches, service pits and floor openings
- unstable ground beneath scaffolds, elevating work platforms or temporary work platforms
- wet, sloping, cluttered or poorly lit surfaces
- changing conditions caused by weather, deliveries, other trades or removed controls
- falling-object, electrical, crush and rescue risks created by the chosen access system.
What to sort out before work starts
Walk the actual work area and include access and exit routes. Confirm the task, height and potential fall path, surface strength, edge and opening protection, plant position, ground conditions, nearby services, people below and expected weather.
Consult the workers who will do the job and coordinate with the principal contractor, subcontractors and anyone else controlling the same area. Agree who supplies, installs, inspects, changes and removes each control.
Choose the work method and sequence before selecting personal protective equipment. Check that equipment is suitable, correctly installed, inspected and within any required service period. Confirm competency, supervision, exclusion zones, communications and emergency arrangements. Reassess when conditions change.
What good controls and documents usually cover
The preferred approach is to do the work on the ground or from a solid construction with safe access and exit. Where that is not reasonably practicable, higher-order controls generally come before individual fall arrest. Depending on the task, this may include properly designed scaffolding, temporary work platforms, perimeter guardrails, covers, safety mesh or an elevating work platform. Work-positioning or fall-arrest systems are used where more protective options are not reasonably practicable. Administrative controls such as permits, sequencing, signs and no-go areas can support physical controls.
Useful documents and records commonly include:
- a site-specific risk assessment, JSA or work-at-heights procedure
- a SWMS where the work is high risk construction work
- scaffold handover and inspection records, plant pre-starts and equipment inspection records
- permits or authorisations for controlled areas and changes to protection
- induction, training, competency and toolbox records
- an emergency and rescue plan, including prompt retrieval after a fall-arrest event
- evidence that controls were checked, maintained and reviewed.
Documents should match the job. Generic wording that does not match the access system, anchor arrangement, work sequence or rescue method is a warning sign.
When a SWMS or site-specific document commonly applies
Under the model WHS framework, construction work involving a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres is classified as high risk construction work, so a SWMS must be prepared before that work starts. A SWMS should identify the high-risk work, its hazards and controls, and explain how the controls will be implemented, monitored and reviewed.
A SWMS may not be the only document needed. A site-specific risk assessment, permit, equipment plan, temporary works information or rescue plan may also be appropriate. Even where work does not meet the local SWMS trigger, fall risks still need effective controls. Local definitions and requirements vary, so check current regulator material for the jurisdiction and project.
Practical warning signs
Pause and review the work if:
- edge protection, covers or scaffold components have been removed or altered
- workers are standing on pallets, forklift tynes or improvised platforms
- a ladder is being used because the planned access equipment is unavailable
- nobody can explain the anchor, clearance, pendulum or rescue arrangements
- the rescue plan depends on emergency services as the first practical retrieval method
- weather, lighting, ground conditions or nearby work have changed
- the SWMS or risk assessment describes a different job or control system
- inspections, training or consultation records cannot be produced.
How Blue Safe can help
Blue Safe provides compliant WHS documents tailored to the client's activities, applicable Australian WHS/OHS requirements, jurisdiction and industry. This can include SWMS, work-at-heights procedures, risk assessments, emergency and rescue arrangements, inspection forms and supporting records suited to the work.
Blue Safe guarantees the document compliance of the WHS documents it provides, including eligible customer documents after Blue Safe has reviewed and upgraded them. Customers actively put the compliant documents into practice through controls, consultation, training, actions, records and evidence. This gives supervisors and crews a clear, consistent system they can use before and during the work.
Official sources
- Safe Work Australia – Model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of falls at workplaces
- WorkSafe WA – Managing the risk of falls at workplaces: Code of practice
- NT WorkSafe – Managing the risk of falls at workplaces
The national Model Code is useful general orientation, but it is not automatically the law in every jurisdiction. Check the current regulator material that applies to the work location.
Information current: 5 August 2026.