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Toolbox talk · Australia

Working at Heights Toolbox Talk

By SiteSortedBuilt from Safe Work Australia and state regulator guidance · How we write and check theseUpdated

Falls from height are still the biggest killer in construction. It does not take a big drop: people die falling off roofs, slabs, trucks and ladders every year. Today we talk about how we stop anyone getting near an open edge in the first place.

Run this talk and get signaturesTalk PDF with sign-inBlank sign-in sheet

Takes about 7 minutes, plus a 5-question quiz.

What happened: a real incident

In April 2023, a labourer was replacing roof sheets on a factory in Campbellfield, Victoria, without a harness. Each old sheet that came off left an open void, and he fell 5.5 metres through one onto the concrete floor. He now needs care around the clock. The company had no site specific SWMS and had given no working at heights training, and in 2025 it was convicted and fined $100,000.

Source: WorkSafe Victoria

Key points to read out

  1. Any fall that could injure someone needs controls. A risk of falling more than 2 m is high risk construction work and needs a SWMS.
  2. Follow the order: avoid working at height if you can, then stop falls with guardrails or platforms, and only then use harnesses to arrest a fall.
  3. Do as much as possible on the ground: prefabricate, use long handled tools, lift finished sections into place.
  4. Edge protection must be complete: top rail, mid rail and toe board. Report any gap straight away and do not work near it.
  5. Never take down a guardrail to get materials in. If a rail has to come off, the area is closed until it goes back up or another control is in place.
  6. Cover every hole and penetration with a secured, load rated cover marked HOLE or DANGER. Never lift a cover without a plan.
  7. Fragile surfaces such as skylights, old roof sheets and ceiling boards will not hold you. Treat them as an open edge.
  8. When roof sheets or floor panels come off, the gap they leave is an open edge. Cover it or net it before you move on to the next one.
  9. Check platforms, EWPs and scaffolds are tagged and inspected before you get on.
  10. Use the right access to get up and down: stairs, a stair tower or a secured ladder. Never climb scaffold frames, racking or formwork.
  11. Stop work if wind, rain or ice makes the surface or edge unsafe.
  12. Tools and materials at height need to be tethered or kept back from the edge, with an exclusion zone set up below.
  13. Only trained workers use harness systems, and there must be a rescue plan before anyone clips on.
  14. If you see an unprotected edge or a missing cover, stop, keep people back and report it. Nobody gets in trouble for stopping a fall.

Questions to ask the crew

  1. Where on this site could someone fall right now?
  2. Which of those edges could we fix with guardrails instead of harnesses?
  3. What do you do if you find a hole cover moved or missing?
  4. Who here is trained to rescue someone hanging in a harness?
  5. Which jobs on today's list could be done from the ground instead?

Reference: WHS Regulation 2011, Part 4.4 (Falls)

How to run this talk

  • Hold the talk where the crew can see a real edge, hole or roof on this site.
  • Ask each person to point out one place someone could fall today, and list them.
  • For each one, agree the control: rail, cover, platform or, last of all, harness. Name who fixes it and by when.
  • Show what a correctly marked hole cover looks like and where spare covers are kept.
  • Confirm the rescue plan and who is trained in it before you finish.
  • Record the talk, the hazards found and the actions on the sign-in sheet.

Working at Heights quiz

Ask these after the talk. Answers are underneath each question.

  1. At what height do the rules say fall controls start?

    1. Only above 4 m
    2. Any fall that could injure needs controls, and a fall risk over 2 m is high risk construction work needing a SWMS
    3. Only when working on a roof

    Answer: B. The WHS Regulations require the risk of any injuring fall to be managed, and above 2 m it is also high risk construction work.

  2. Which control should you reach for first on an open slab edge?

    1. A harness and lanyard
    2. Guardrails with a top rail, mid rail and toe board
    3. A warning sign
    4. Telling people to be careful

    Answer: B. Guardrails stop a fall for everyone without relying on people clipping on, so they come before harnesses in the hierarchy.

  3. A delivery is easier if one guardrail panel comes off. What is the right move?

    1. Take it off quickly and put it back after
    2. Close the area and only remove it with another control in place until it goes back
    3. Leave it off for the day since everyone knows

    Answer: B. A missing rail is an open edge; the area stays closed or protected another way until the rail is back.

  4. You need to walk across an old roof with plastic skylights. How should you treat the skylights?

    1. As safe if they look solid
    2. As fragile, the same as an open edge
    3. As safe if you step on the frame

    Answer: B. Skylights and old sheets look solid but will not hold a person, so they need covers, mesh or barriers.

  5. Before anyone clips on to a harness system, what must be in place?

    1. A rescue plan with gear and trained people on site
    2. A phone with signal
    3. A spare harness in the ute
    4. Nothing extra if the anchor is rated

    Answer: A. A worker hanging in a harness can lose consciousness in minutes, so the rescue has to be ready before work starts.

Questions about working at heights

What height is considered working at heights?

Any work where a fall could cause injury must be managed under the WHS Regulations, at any height. Construction work with a risk of falling more than 2 m is high risk construction work and needs a SWMS.

What is the hierarchy of control for working at heights?

First avoid work at height, for example by doing it on the ground. Then prevent falls with guardrails, scaffolds or work platforms, then use fall restraint, and only then fall arrest such as harnesses or nets. Training, signs and procedures support these controls but do not replace them.

Do you need a SWMS for working at heights?

Yes, where the construction work involves a risk of a person falling more than 2 m, it is high risk construction work and a SWMS must be prepared before the work starts. Lower fall risks still have to be managed under the WHS Regulations.

What is the most common cause of falls from height in construction?

Falls from roofs, ladders and scaffolds cause most construction fall deaths, often through fragile surfaces, unprotected edges and holes. Many happen on short jobs where nobody set up protection because the work was only meant to take a few minutes.

What the law says in Australia

WHS Regulations 78 and 79 require the person running the work to manage the risk of falls and provide safe access to and from any area with a fall risk. Controls must follow the hierarchy, starting with doing the work on the ground or on a solid structure, and ladders or other administrative controls are only relied on when higher controls are not reasonably practicable. Construction work with a fall risk above the state threshold is high risk construction work and needs a SWMS.

Source: SafeWork SA

Sign-in sheet

Print this page or download the sign-in sheet. Or run it in the app and the crew signs on the phone.

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