Falls from height remain one of the leading causes of death and serious injury in the UK construction industry. Every year, roofers, cladders, and maintenance workers are seriously injured or killed as a result of inadequate planning, fragile roof materials, and missing safety measures. Despite modern equipment and strict regulations, accidents continue to happen on roofs across the country, often during short-term maintenance or refurbishment work where hazards are underestimated.
The purpose of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 is to prevent death and injury from falls. These rules apply to any situation where a person could fall a distance liable to cause harm, including from ladders, scaffolds, flat or pitched roofs, and fragile surfaces. For those managing roofing and cladding work, understanding and applying these regulations correctly can make the difference between a safe site and a tragic incident.
Recent cases across the UK highlight how quickly a routine roofing task can turn into a serious or fatal accident when the right precautions are not in place.
November 2025
A construction company was fined £33,500 after a worker fell through an unprotected skylight opening while working on a domestic flat roof in Farnborough. The fall proved fatal, with investigators concluding that suitable edge protection and coverings for roof openings had not been installed.
October 2025
A construction worker fell from a partially constructed barn roof after standing on a newly installed sheet. The task had not been properly planned, and no fall-protection system was in place to prevent the accident.
October 2025
Two companies in Keighley were fined following another serious incident. A worker fell through a fragile roof-light while over-cladding a factory roof and was impaled on machinery below. The investigation revealed poor risk assessment and inadequate control measures, despite the well-known dangers associated with working on aged or corroded sheet roofs.
May 2025
A roofing contractor and company director were fined after an employee fell through a fragile roof light while working on a sheep barn extension in Leyburn, North Yorkshire. The worker suffered life-changing injuries. The investigation found that fragile areas had not been identified, and no protective measures were in place to prevent the fall.
May 2025
A cladding company and its director were fined after a 61-year-old worker died when he fell through a fragile roof while replacing panels at an industrial site. Investigators found that the work had been planned only from photographs, and no site inspection had been carried out beforehand.
Feb 2025
A specialist contractor was fined for “outdated health and safety attitudes” after a worker fell from a church steeple. The court heard that the fall protection equipment used was insufficient, and the site lacked proper supervision and rescue planning.
124 Deaths
These incidents, alongside national HSE data, showed that there were 124 work-related deaths between April 2024 and March 2025 (with falls from height remaining the most common cause), demonstrating that many of these tragedies could have been prevented through better planning, training, and control of work at height.
Common Causes of Falls
Roofing and cladding work combine multiple high-risk factors that require precise planning and control. Whether it’s refurbishment, inspection, or maintenance, workers are often operating on ageing substrates, near fragile roof lights, or in exposed conditions where a single misstep can have severe consequences. Many incidents occur on existing buildings where deterioration, limited access, or unpredictable weather combine to increase the likelihood of a fall.
Typical Hazards Include:
- Fragile roof lights or skylights that give way under a person’s weight
- Corroded metal sheeting or old fibre cement panels that no longer have structural strength
- Slipped or broken slates and tiles
- Temporary roof areas weakened by water damage or rot
- Inadequate edge protection during liquid roofing or coating applications
Even short-duration tasks such as replacing roof sheets or applying coatings can be high-risk if precautions are not taken.
Fragile Roofing Materials
Many roof structures contain fragile materials that are unsafe to walk on, particularly older buildings. These include roof lights, liner panels, non-reinforced fibre cement sheets, corroded metal sheets, glass (including wired glass), water-damaged chipboard, and various composite deck materials such as woodwool or Stramit slabs.
Age, corrosion, and moisture can all reduce the load-bearing capacity of these materials. Workers may not recognise a surface as fragile until it fails beneath them. Before starting any work, a competent person should assess the roof's condition and identify all fragile areas. Barriers, covers, or crawl boards should be used to prevent direct contact with weak surfaces.
Employer and Contractor Responsibilities
Under the Work at Height Regulations, employers, building owners and contractors all share responsibility for ensuring that any work at height is properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people. Every task should be planned in advance and assessed to determine whether it can be avoided altogether or completed safely from ground level. If height work is necessary, those involved must ensure that workers are fully trained and competent to use fall prevention and fall arrest systems.
Selecting and maintaining the right equipment is a vital part of safe roof work, and every platform, scaffold, ladder or access system must be stable, suitable for the conditions and inspected regularly to ensure continued safety. Supervision is equally important, as safe procedures should be followed at every stage of the project and work must be continually monitored to confirm that control measures remain effective.
Failing to meet these responsibilities can have devastating consequences. Beyond the risk of serious injury or death, employers and contractors can face prosecution, heavy fines or imprisonment. Recent prosecutions show that courts take a firm stance on breaches of height safety regulations, particularly where a lack of planning or oversight has contributed to an avoidable fall.
Planning Work at Height
Every job involving roof access should begin with a formal risk assessment and method statement. The following points must be considered before work starts:
- Assess weather conditions that could compromise safety, such as strong winds or rain on smooth metal or single-ply surfaces
- Check the structure of the roof to ensure it is stable and can support the weight of workers and materials
- Prevent falling materials or tools by installing toe boards, debris netting, or exclusion zones below the work area
- Store materials safely so they do not slide or collapse
- Establish clear emergency and rescue procedures. Relying solely on public emergency services is not sufficient — a site-specific rescue plan must be in place.
The Three-Step Safety Hierarchy
A simple three-step hierarchy provides a practical framework for managing height work safely:
Eliminate the risk
Avoid working at height wherever possible, using ground-based systems, telescopic tools, or remote inspection methods.
Control the Hazard
Where height work cannot be avoided, use safe access systems such as scaffolding, platforms, or MEWPs (mobile elevating work platforms).
Protect the Contractor
If risk cannot be eliminated, use fall-arrest systems, harnesses, and lifelines to minimise the distance and impact of a potential fall.
Following this sequence ensures that risk reduction measures are applied in the correct order of effectiveness, not simply relying on personal protective equipment as the first solution.
Collective vs Personal Protection
When selecting safety equipment, collective protection should always take priority over individual measures. Collective systems, such as guard rails, temporary edge protection, and safety nets, protect multiple workers without requiring them to take specific action for the equipment to function.
Personal protection, such as harnesses, lanyards, and anchor points, is used when collective systems are impractical or insufficient. However, these systems rely on correct fitting, inspection, and user training. Misuse or poor maintenance can render them ineffective, so they should be seen as a final line of defence rather than a substitute for proper planning.
Practical Roof Work Checklist
Before beginning any roof project, contractors should run through the following checklist:
- Is the work at height absolutely necessary, or can it be done from the ground?
- Has a risk assessment and rescue plan been completed and communicated?
- Are the roof structure and access points stable and secure?
- Have fragile surfaces been identified, marked, or covered?
- Is the weather suitable for safe working?
- Is collective protection in place (guard rails, scaffolding, or netting)?
- Have all workers been trained and briefed on safe access and fall prevention?
- Are harnesses, anchor points, and PPE correctly fitted and inspected?
- Are materials and tools stored safely to prevent falls?
- Is supervision in place to monitor safe working throughout the project?
For liquid-applied roofing work, additional considerations include ensuring adequate curing time between coats, controlling access to wet surfaces, and keeping walkways free of trip hazards and containers.
Conclusion
Despite advances in materials, equipment, and training, falls from height remain the biggest cause of fatalities in construction. Each incident demonstrates how easily risks can escalate when planning, competence, or control measures fall short.
By eliminating unnecessary height work, controlling hazards through proper access systems, and protecting workers with reliable fall-arrest equipment, roofing professionals can significantly reduce the risk of serious accidents. Every contractor, site manager, and building owner has a duty to ensure these principles are followed on every project.
Allbase promotes safe working practices across its approved contractor network, ensuring all liquid-applied roofing systems are installed responsibly, efficiently, and in full compliance with current safety regulations.
Working safely at height isn’t just a regulatory requirement; it’s a professional responsibility that protects lives and livelihoods every day.
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