Working at heights in Australia: managing the fall risk
Falls from height are consistently among the leading causes of death and serious injury on Australian construction sites. The WHS Regulations require a business to manage the risk of a fall so far as is reasonably practicable — and for work where a person could fall more than two metres on a construction site, a SWMS is mandatory.
The order of control
The Regulations set out a clear order. First, can the work be done on the ground or from a solid construction? If not, use a passive fall-prevention device such as a scaffold, guardrail or elevating work platform. Only then move to work-positioning systems, and lastly a fall-arrest system or a fixed/portable ladder — the least-preferred controls, not the default.
Equipment and competence
Access equipment must be suitable, inspected and maintained; harnesses and anchor points must be rated, inspected and used by trained workers; and some access work (such as certain scaffolding and EWPs) needs a high-risk work licence. The control is only as good as the person using it.
Keep it evidenced
A working-at-heights SWMS, current equipment inspection records and the right licences, all kept against the job, are what let you show — to a principal contractor or the regulator — that the fall risk was actually managed, not just noted.
Questions, answered
Is there a '2 metre rule' in Australia?
For construction work, a SWMS is required where a person could fall more than two metres. But the duty to manage fall risk applies at any height where a fall could cause injury — two metres is the SWMS trigger, not the point below which falls are safe.
Is a fall-arrest harness enough?
It's one of the least-preferred controls. The Regulations expect you to work through the hierarchy first — ground-level work, then passive devices like scaffolds and guardrails — and only rely on harnesses when higher-order controls aren't reasonably practicable.
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