Fire commanders delayed the recovery of a woman lying at the bottom of a disused mine shaft, with fatal consequences, because they were overly preoccupied with adhering to management’s rescue policy, a fatal accident inquiry has found.

Follow the four ‘A’s – assess, avoid, attenuate, and advise – and you should go a large way to protecting yourself from prosecution and/or civil claims arising from a fall from height.

In a ground-breaking panel discussion in the AIF Working at Height forum, senior representatives of six leading UK safety organisations came together for the first time ever to discuss if the ‘Holy Grail’ of zero working-at-height accidents is achievable, and if so, how.

“All change, or as you were?” That is the question answered by Don Aers, of PASMA, in his presentation at the IOSH Exhibition on the Association’s recent research and consultation on best practice in mobile-access tower assembly and dismantling.

A teenage sea cadet’s fatal fall from height has highlighted a number of weaknesses in safety procedures on board the sail-training tall ship from which he fell.

A dairy farm failed to provide adequate protective equipment for a contractor who fell 16 feet through a fragile shed roof in Cornwall.

A care home in Wales has been ordered to pay more than £100,000 in fines and costs after an elderly resident was killed when he fell 12 feet out of a window.

An HSE inspector has slammed a boat company for a dangerous lack of planning during removal work at a factory, where a worker was knocked off some stairs.

Three companies have been fined a total of £336,000 after a worker fell six and a half metres through a fragile rooflight at a factory in Dundee.

A young worker was lucky to escape serious injury when he fell seven metres through a skylight on a warehouse roof.

Safety Guidance Number 4 (SG4) has become the established minimum standard for fall prevention in the scaffolding industry. Following the release of the latest version of the guidance, Simon Hughes discusses the impact it has had on safety.

Working at height can be dangerous and ultimately fatal if not done safely but, despite this well-known fact, some organisations are still failing to take the sensible and practical steps necessary to protect their workers’ lives. The HSE’s Justine Lee discusses where and how most at-height incidents occur and emphasises what should be done to prevent them.

Ian Wake examines the practical and legal issues that should be considered so that a work-at-height rescue and evacuation procedure can be carried out both safely and in compliance with the law.

Gary Gallagher considers the role of collective protection in relation to the hierarchy of risk management contained in the Work at Height Regulations, and stresses the importance of scaffold planning and product selection at the outset.

In 2007/08, falls from height accounted for one in five recorded fatalities among employees and nearly half of deaths among the self-employed.1 Peter Bennett looks at two key issues in relation to working at height – training and competence – and unravels what they mean in practice for workers, supervisors and managers.

As councils and housing providers increasingly turn to solar energy to help residents reduce their household energy bills as well as their impact on the environment, they need to know how to manage the risks to their workforce when carrying out tasks above ground level.

The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has launched a project to collect worldwide data on mobile elevated work platform (MEWP) incidents, with the aim of improving the safe use of the equipment.

The National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) has submitted its recommendations on revisions to the Work at Height Regulations, following Professor Ragnar Löfstedt’s review of health and safety legislation.

The Access Industry Forum (AIF) has produced seven new toolbox talks, which offer guidance on a variety of work-at-height topics.

A Yorkshire company which specialises in working safely when high above ground level has moved in to bigger and better premises to expand its business onwards and upwards.

ZT Safety Systems says it has designed its fall safety harness to eliminate the damage and trauma associated with traditional harnesses, and, at the same time, improve the day-to-day working experience and performance for the wearer.

From 1 November, trade professionals will have a new range of fibreglass and aluminium ladders from which to choose.

Capital Safety has introduced the Protecta Rebel range of self-retracting lifelines (SRL), with cables available in a variety of lengths ranging from 6m to 30m.

Ladder specialist Ladderstore has expanded its website to encompass a wider range of safety accessories, including stabilisers suitable for varying surface finishes.

The manufacturer of a new range of versatile plastic hangers says it is set to make climbing up and down stepladders, over-reaching, and the use of mobile platforms a thing of the past when it comes to putting up or taking down high-level display material, such as signs, posters and flags.