The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require employers and anyone controlling work at height to plan the job properly, supervise it, and have it carried out by competent people using the correct equipment. For aerial work platforms and scissor lifts, this means a documented assessment of fall risks before the platform is used, not a generic site induction ticked off once a year. Any fall-protection plan has to address where a worker could fall, how far, and what they might strike on the way down.

For fleet managers and site supervisors, this translates into a hard requirement: every platform deployment needs the right combination of collective and personal protection, and inspection records that can be produced on demand. Getting this wrong is not a paperwork problem — it is the difference between a controlled lift and a fall from height incident.

The regulations exist to prevent death and injury caused by falls from height, and they apply directly to employers and to anyone who controls work at height activity — not just the operator on the platform. The duty holder must first assess the risks, then ensure the work is properly planned, properly supervised, and carried out by people with the right competence and the right equipment for the task.

Two schedules within the regulations are particularly relevant: Schedule 2 sets requirements for guard-rails, toe-boards, barriers and similar collective means of protection. Schedule 3 sets requirements for working platforms themselves, covering construction and use.

Fall protection is defined as the full set of systems, equipment, procedures and work practices used to stop workers falling from one level to another. Guardrails form a physical barrier between the worker and the fall hazard. Their main value is preventative: a correctly fitted guardrail stops a worker reaching an unprotected edge in the first place. On most scissor platforms and boom lifts, the guardrail is the primary line of defence simply because the platform structure is designed around it.

Harnesses and personal fall arrest systems come into play where the platform design, the nature of the task, or the working position means guardrails alone cannot fully contain the risk — for example, when a worker needs to lean or reach outside the platform basket on a boom lift.

A workable fall-protection plan should establish: where on the platform or task area a fall could occur and how far the worker could fall; what the worker could strike during a fall, including structures, machinery or the platform itself; confirmation that the platform and any fall-arrest equipment has been inspected before use; and a rescue plan in case a fall arrest system is deployed and the worker needs to be recovered quickly.

Equipment inspection is a specific requirement under the regulations. For fleet managers running mixed fleets of scissor lifts and boom platforms, inspection records are the single easiest control to audit — and the one most often found missing when something goes wrong.