3 ways to automate a working at height risk assessment

#1 - Simple assessment

Who it's for: Single-site businesses recording the working at height risk assessment themselves, where you know the premises and just need a clear, structured record.

What it is: A working at height risk assessment records each fall risk, the people it could harm, the controls in place, and any further action. This version is structured around the 9 areas a competent assessment needs to cover: planning and avoiding the work in the first place, ladders and stepladders, other access equipment, fragile surfaces, falling objects, unprotected edges and openings, weather and environmental conditions, training and competence, and monitoring and review. Each area is a small group of three prompts written for that area. Ladders and stepladders asks you to identify the ladder and stepladder hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, and evaluate the ladder and stepladder risks and decide on precautions; Fragile surfaces asks about the roof lights and roofing sheets that will not bear weight and who is at risk if one gives way; and so on through all 9, so every question tells you exactly what it's about. A working at height risk assessment is a legal duty under the Work at Height Regulations 2005 (as amended in 2007) for any workplace where a fall could cause injury.

In practice: A single-site facilities team works down the 9 areas. Under Ladders and stepladders: the hazards (a folding stepladder past its check date), who's at risk (whoever climbs it and anyone below), and the precautions (BS EN131 replacement ordered, three-point contact enforced, the defective ladder tagged out). Under Fragile surfaces: the old roof light over the loading bay flagged, signed, and access restricted to a permit. Three short answers per area, and the whole site gets covered.

Why it works: The 9 areas are the structure a competent person or an enforcing officer expects to read, so nothing gets missed: planning, equipment, the site itself, and the people doing the work all get covered, not just whichever hazard someone happened to think of. And splitting each area into three prompts means nobody has to remember what a good answer contains; the structure asks for hazards, people, and precautions separately, which is what makes the record defensible.

Steps included:

• 9 assessment areas: covering planning, ladders and access equipment, the site itself, and training and monitoring
• Each area is a group of 3 prompts written for it: identify the hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate the risks and decide on precautions

#2 - With guidance

Who it's for: Businesses where a manager, not a height safety specialist, completes the assessment and needs the method in front of them.

What it is: The same 9 areas and three prompts, but each area's group now carries its own written guidance: why that area matters and what to check before you answer. The ladders and stepladders group carries the BS EN131 standard and the case against makeshift equipment; the fragile surfaces group carries roof lights and ageing roofing sheets; the training group carries what the Work at Height Regulations actually require of a competent person.

What it adds to the simple assessment:

1. Guidance for every area, on screen exactly where you answer it
2. What to check before answering, not just a blank box
3. An assessment that's consistent whoever completes it

Why it works: Generic guidance at the top of a form gets skimmed once and forgotten by area 6. Guidance attached to each area gets read at the moment it's needed, so a manager who isn't a height safety specialist still asks the right questions about fragile roof lights, exclusion zones for falling objects, and when conditions are too poor to work.

Steps included:

• The 9 assessment areas, each a group of 3 prompts
• 9 guidance notes, one per area: why it matters and what to check

#3 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Businesses that want visual proof of each area's condition alongside the written record.

What it is: The same 9 areas and three prompts, but each area's group now carries a photo step. As you assess each area you photograph it: the ladder's tag and check date, the roof light and its warning sign, the guardrail at the loading bay edge, the exclusion zone taped off below live work. The record shows the condition of each area at the time, not just a description of it.

In practice: A facilities manager works through the assessment with their phone. At Ladders and stepladders they photograph the BS EN131 label and the pre-use check sheet; at Edges, openings and unprotected drops, the guardrail along the mezzanine edge; at Falling objects, the taped exclusion zone under the roof work. Every answer now has a picture next to it.

What it adds to the simple assessment:

1. A photo per area, captured as you assess it
2. Proof of conditions that holds up to an inspector, not just a written claim
3. A visual baseline to compare against at the next review

Why it works: A written assessment says the guardrail was in place; a photo shows it. When the assessment is reviewed next year, the photos also show what changed. And because the photo step sits with its area, the evidence files itself against the right risk instead of landing in a camera roll.

Steps included:

• The 9 assessment areas, each a group of 3 prompts
• 9 photo steps, one per area: the hazard or the control in place, captured at the time

How to pick the right version

You don't need to know our product to choose. Every version here is the same 9-area assessment; the additions change who can run it and what the record proves.

Do other people run the assessment?

If you run it yourself and know the method, the plain steps are enough: #1. The moment a manager who isn't a height safety specialist does it, the guidance needs to be on screen next to each area: #2.

Do you need photo proof?

A written assessment meets the duty; photos show the actual condition of each area. If a written record is enough, #1 or #2. If you want the ladder tags, the guardrails, and the exclusion zones on camera next to their answers, #3.

Need both? Open the version that matters most in the playground and add the other's steps. That is how the product works anyway: every option here is the same assessment with steps added.

Related workflows

• Ladder and step check - the recurring check that the access equipment is safe
• Kitchen risk assessment - the wider kitchen hazards
• Work equipment risk assessment - assessing the equipment itself

Conclusion

Falls from height cause some of the most serious workplace injuries, and they happen on stepladders as often as scaffolds. A working at height risk assessment is how you show you have planned, equipped, and controlled the work properly. Every version above is the same 9 areas a competent assessment needs, each a group of three prompts; the additions put guidance or a photo inside every area's group. Pick the one your business needs and build on it in the playground.

→ Build your own working at height risk assessment on Pilla.