Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace injuries and fatalities, with common causes including falls from ladders or through fragile roofs. A recent case saw two construction bosses being jailed for manslaughter by gross negligence after a roofer fell two storeys to his death in Hove. The company was also fined £190,000 and forced to pay £30,000 in costs after it was decided they failed in their duty of care to their employee.

The HSE found multiple safety failings, including no scaffolding or barriers to protect those working from height, while the ladder was only secured by two nails on either side of the timber frame on each side. The severity of the sentences demonstrated just how seriously employers are expected to take responsibility for the safety of their employees.

As a result, there is comprehensive guidance laid out in the Work at Height Regulation 2005 (WAHR) to help prevent these incidences from occurring. If the appropriate precautions are not taken, an employer could be liable if a person falls and suffers personal injury.

Following the guidance in WAHR is normally enough to comply with the regulations, but the law also recognises there are low-risk situations where common sense might dictate no precautions are necessary. These rules apply if you are an employer or you control work at height, for example, if you are a contractor or a factory owner. The Regulations apply if someone is working on a ladder, a flat roof or where fragile surfaces are present but also where workers could fall into an opening in the floor or a hole in the ground.

In practice, this means you must do as much work as possible from the ground, ensure workers at height can get safely to and from the height they are working, and that the equipment they are using is safe, suitable and regularly maintained. Employers must make sure those carrying out the work are not overloaded or overreaching, are taking extra precautions near fragile surfaces, have protection from falling objects and have a planned route of evacuation.

The key for employers looking to comply with the regulations is to make sure work is planned, supervised and carried out by competent people with the appropriate equipment. As training in these environments is often carried out on the job, it is essential that if someone is being trained, they are supervised by someone who is competent to do so. Despite the comprehensive regulations, exceptions are made for low-risk or short-duration tasks where common sense tells you no precautions are necessary. If someone is being trained in a low-risk situation, this may just involve them receiving instructions. If the work is more complex, such as assembling complex scaffolding, then employers may need to prove those supervising have had the appropriate training or industry certification schemes.

Factors to weigh up are the height of the task, the duration (less than 30 minutes) and frequency, as well as the condition of the surfaces. Employers can assess those risks here.

Construction workers can seek compensation for workplace injuries in a variety of situations. However, a certain criterion must be met before a claim can be made:

It is also possible to claim compensation when the injured person is partly at fault, for example, if they didn’t adhere to their training. Likewise, it’s important to note that regulations are often breached on construction sites, but claims are only valid if the breach causes the accident.

This is a very complex question, and the answer is highly fact specific. Legal advice is almost always required to determine if a claim is valid – particularly with construction claims.

Ultimately, this decision would be determined by a Judge assessing the facts and applying the law. There are dozens of regulations that are used as a reference point in determining whether a claim can be made. This would mean deducing if the regulations had been breached and whether, if they had been followed, the accident would have been avoided. If the judge finds this is the case, that is often sufficient to determine that a claim is valid, and that compensation is due. Breaching a regulation doesn’t usually create an automatic entitlement to compensation, but it is often very important in helping decide if an organisation is at fault.

Courts will also look at guidance, for example from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and hear from experts regarding good industry practice and whether this was followed, to help them assess whether someone was at fault.

Fault in construction sites is complex as there are often multiple organisations operating on the site, all with different responsibilities. Many construction workers are self-employed, which can give them greater responsibility for their own welfare but does not prevent them from claiming when other organisations have breached regulations.

In practice, most claims are negotiated directly between the injured persons’ solicitors and the responsible party’s insurers. Only about 2% of cases go to Court and more than 70% of claims commenced succeed.

Below are the main regulations that if breached, can lead to a determination that compensation is due.

Main employer duties under the Regulations include:

The main provisions of these Regulations require employers to provide:

The main provisions require employers to:

The main provisions of these Regulations require employers to:

The main provisions of these regulations require employers to assess and manage risk when individuals they control are working at height (see specific details below)

These regulations aim to improve health and safety in the construction industry by helping businesses:

Personal injury claims arising from accidents at work are often complex and legal advice is almost always necessary. Most law firms specialising in this area will undertake an initial assessment as to whether there is a claim, which is almost always done for free. This can usually be conducted via the telephone and takes roughly 30-45 minutes, depending on the complexity and severity of injuries.

If there is a claim worth pursuing, most law firms will offer to support the claim on a no-win, no-fee basis.

Other routes to claiming compensation include contacting your trade union or using legal expense insurance that may be in place. These organisations will recommend a specialist lawyer.

A claim is usually initiated by a solicitor notifying the employer’s insurance company of the claim and logging it on an official claim portal. The employers then have 30 days to confirm whether they accept the claim. If they do, the solicitors will then take steps to value the claim, e.g., by obtaining medical reports. If the employers do not accept the claim, further negotiations and evidence gathering are usually required or the claim may be dropped if it’s unlikely to succeed (with no charge to the employee).

It is illegal to sack people for bringing a personal injury claim.

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