Why Working at Heights Still Poses a Risk
Despite advancements in safety protocols and equipment, falls from height continue to be a leading cause of workplace fatalities and serious injuries. In the United States, the Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that in 2023, falls, slips, and trips accounted for 39.2% of all construction fatalities, with a significant portion resulting from falls to lower levels. Similarly, in Australia, working at heights remains a high-risk activity, frequently leading to severe incidents across various industries.
Industries such as construction, mining, and manufacturing are particularly susceptible to these hazards due to the nature of tasks performed at elevated levels. In South Africa alone, the mining industry recorded a rise in fatalities due to falls of ground (FOG), jumping from a record low of six in 2022 to 16 in 2023—highlighting the ongoing need for stringent, enforced safety protocols in high-risk environments.
Regulatory bodies worldwide have established standards to mitigate these risks. In Australia, the Work Health and Safety (WHS) regulations outline specific duties for managing the risks associated with working at heights. Despite these regulations, the persistence of fall-related incidents underscores the necessity for robust work authorisation systems and comprehensive risk control measures to ensure worker safety.
Understanding the Risk: Common Hazards When Working at Heights
Working at heights exposes personnel to a unique set of hazards, many of which are not immediately visible until a detailed risk assessment is conducted. Common high-risk environments include scaffolding, rooftops, ladders, elevated work platforms (EWPs), and even temporary access structures. The key hazard here is the risk of a fall—an incident that can result in severe injury or fatality.
Inadequate edge protection, unstable working surfaces, poor weather conditions, and incorrect use of personal protective equipment (PPE) are frequent contributing factors. According to Safe Work Australia, injuries also occur when workers fall through fragile surfaces such as skylights or brittle roofing sheets.
Other risks include:
- Slippery or uneven surfaces: which can lead to slips and trips.
- Improperly secured tools and equipment: posing a threat to those below.
- Inadequate lighting or visibility: increasing missteps and navigation errors.
- Insufficient training: particularly among contractors or new employees unfamiliar with the site.
Moreover, certain industries face compounded risks. In mining, for instance, elevated conveyor systems and large machinery require constant maintenance, often necessitating height access under challenging conditions. Similarly, in power generation and petrochemical sectors, confined spaces and vertical structures make working at heights both necessary and dangerous.
Understanding and identifying these hazards early is critical. It enables HSE teams to apply effective control measures tailored to the specific risks of the job, ensuring that workers return safely after every shift.
Legal Obligations and Safety Standards
Working at heights is classified as high-risk construction work under various national safety frameworks, including Australia’s Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations, the UK’s Work at Height Regulations 2005, and OSHA standards in the United States. These frameworks mandate stringent measures to eliminate or minimise the risk of a fall, and non-compliance can result in severe penalties, including fines, shutdowns, and liability for workplace injuries.
In Australia, any work where a person could fall more than 2 metres is deemed high risk and requires a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) under WHS Regulation 299. While holding the RIIWHS204E – Work Safely at Heights certification is not a legal requirement in itself, employers are legally obligated under Australia’s Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws to ensure that workers are trained and competent to perform high-risk tasks safely. Completing RIIWHS204E or a similar accredited unit of competency is one way to demonstrate that the requirement has been met. The Model Code of Practice: Managing the Risk of Falls provides practical guidance for implementing these requirements.
Key legal obligations include:
- Conducting site-specific risk assessments
- Ensuring solid construction for elevated work
- Providing suitable fall prevention, restraint, or arrest systems
- Maintaining training records and verifying competency
These legal standards are designed to enforce proactive safety measures. However, their effectiveness hinges on real-time compliance tracking, competent supervision, and a systematised approach to work authorisation—gaps that are often best addressed through digital permit-to-work systems.
Why Permits Matter: The Role of Work Authorisation in Fall Prevention
Permit-to-work (PTW) systems play a pivotal role in ensuring that working at heights is carried out under strictly controlled conditions. A well-designed permit process is not just about documentation—it’s about enforcing safety-critical decisions before any task begins. This includes verifying that workers are trained and certified, identifying fall hazards, confirming that proper equipment is in place, and ensuring that rescue plans are ready.
In high-risk environments like oil and gas, mining, or power generation, the PTW process functions as a gatekeeper for operational safety. Permits must validate critical aspects such as:
- The presence of fall prevention or arrest systems
- Completion of risk assessments and SWMS (Safe Work Method Statement)
- Appropriate isolations (where relevant)
- Site-specific inductions and hazard briefings
Electronic permit-to-work systems like IntelliPERMIT take this a step further. They integrate real-time risk assessment, track worker competencies automatically, and prevent permits from being issued if safety conditions are not met. For example, if a worker’s certification (e.g. RIIWHS204E) has expired, they simply cannot be authorised to work at heights where the job requires this. IntelliPERMIT also visualises work zones and flags conflicts in simultaneous operations (SIMOPS), such as overlapping scaffolding or concurrent tasks in the same area—scenarios that often escalate fall risks if unmanaged.
Moreover, digital PTW systems improve accountability. Every action—be it a sign-off, update, or exception—is time-stamped and traceable. This not only strengthens compliance but also provides an auditable trail that is critical during inspections or incident investigations.
Additionally, IntelliPERMIT helps prevent a scenario where tasks that begin under strict safety protocols gradually shift into routine work without proper reassessment. By enforcing control measures, IntelliPERMIT ensures that high-risk tasks remain tightly managed throughout their lifecycle.
Ultimately, work authorisation isn’t just a formality—it’s a frontline control. When combined with real-time validation and integrated safety checks, it becomes one of the most effective ways to prevent falls from height before they happen.
Best Practices in Managing Work at Heights
Preventing falls from height requires more than just compliance—it demands proactive planning, layered risk controls, and disciplined execution. The most effective approach begins well before a worker ascends to an elevated platform.
1. Apply the Hierarchy of Control:
The gold standard in height safety is to first eliminate the need to work at height entirely. If that’s not feasible, organisations must rely on engineered solutions (e.g. edge protection, guardrails), fall prevention devices, restraint systems, and only as a last resort, fall arrest systems. Each layer should be considered based on the specific risk context.
2. Conduct Job-Specific Risk Assessments:
No two height tasks are identical. A dynamic risk assessment—factoring in site layout, weather conditions, and nearby activities—should be mandatory before any permit is issued. When integrated into the electronic PTW system, these assessments ensure the latest site data informs decision-making.
3. Use Pre-Start Briefings and SWMS:
In Australia, a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is required for all high-risk construction work, including tasks above 2 metres. There are similar requirements in other countries. These documents should be reviewed in pre-start meetings, where supervisors walk through each control and validate readiness with the team.
4. Leverage Real-Time Integration:
In advanced safety systems like IntelliPERMIT, real-time data from weather forecast services, SCADA, GIS, and IIoT can be used to confirm safe work zones, identify nearby hazards, and flag conflicts. These integrations enhance situational awareness during planning and execution.
5. Ensure Competency and Ongoing Training:
Only certified personnel should undertake height work. Competency-based access control ensures that expired certifications or missing induction records trigger alerts during permit creation.
When these practices are embedded within a digital work authorisation process, they transform safety from reactive compliance into a proactive, real-time control mechanism—essential for modern industrial operations.
How IntelliPERMIT Supports Safer Work at Heights
Managing work at heights safely requires not only planning and equipment but also precision in execution and control—areas where IntelliPERMIT excels. As a configurable electronic permit-to-work (ePTW) solution, IntelliPERMIT ensures that no task at height begins without every safety requirement being systematically checked, validated, and approved.
At the core of IntelliPERMIT is competency-based access control. Only workers with up-to-date height safety training—such as RIIWHS204E certifications—can be assigned to tasks involving fall risk. If training is missing or expired, the system automatically blocks the permit, eliminating the risk of unqualified personnel working at heights.
Another powerful feature is SIMOPS (Simultaneous Operations) conflict management. IntelliPERMIT provides visual tools, including integration with 2D and 3D site maps, to highlight overlapping tasks. This ensures teams avoid working above or below each other without appropriate separation or shielding—scenarios that frequently lead to dropped objects or falls.
The system also integrates with plant systems such as SCADA, GIS, and IIoT, providing real-time context about equipment status, environmental hazards, and site access conditions. This dynamic information helps HSE teams validate conditions before issuing a permit.
Finally, IntelliPERMIT’s audit trail and traceability strengthen compliance and incident readiness. Every approval, update, or deviation is logged, creating a robust record for review, training, or regulatory audits.
This audit trail becomes invaluable during regulatory inspections or incident investigations, providing clear evidence that all reasonable safety measures were enforced — supporting both compliance and legal defence.
By transforming permits into intelligent workflows that enforce safety by design, IntelliPERMIT becomes a cornerstone in managing the real-world risks of working at heights.
Conclusion: Build a Culture of Safety with Smarter Work Authorisation
Falls from height are preventable—when safety is not just a policy, but a system. In high-risk industries, work at elevation is often unavoidable, but the risks can be effectively managed through rigorous planning, real-time risk assessment, and controlled work authorisation.
Digital solutions like IntelliPERMIT go far beyond traditional paperwork. They embed safety into every phase of the task—from pre-start to close-out—ensuring only competent personnel are involved, hazards are identified and controlled, and conflicting tasks are avoided.
For HSE and operations leaders, this represents a shift from reactive safety measures to proactive risk management. IntelliPERMIT transforms safety protocols into enforceable workflows, reducing incidents and strengthening organisational resilience.
In today’s complex work environments, smarter permits mean safer work. The right technology ensures your teams go home safely—every day, without exception.
Take The Next Step
Looking to justify investment in a safer, more reliable permit-to-work solution?
Download the Building a Business Case for IntelliPERMIT whitepaper to explore how digital work authorisation improves safety, reduces operational risk, and aligns with your organisation’s KPIs and compliance goals.
Make the case for a system that enforces safety by design—because no one should climb without certainty, and every worker deserves to go home safely.
