Working at height requirements in New Zealand

There is no threshold. WorkSafe’s August 2026 guidelines are explicit: there is no minimum height for working at height, and any fall risk from any height must be managed. Working at height is defined as working anywhere a worker could fall and be hurt if precautions aren’t taken, which includes work above or below ground level, ladders, scaffolds, roofs and anywhere near an unprotected edge. Slipping or tripping on a flat floor isn’t a fall from height. Everything else is a risk assessment, not a measurement.

Not a rule, but a recommendation, and it’s new. The August 2026 guidelines state that WorkSafe recommends any potential fall greater than one metre should be managed using physical barriers or a fall restraint. That’s guidance rather than law; the guidelines use “should” for recommended practice and “must” for legal requirements. However, it’s the closest thing to a working number WorkSafe has ever published, and it’s a long way below the three metres most of the industry still has in its head.

WorkSafe has addressed it directly, in a section titled clarifying the three-metre rule. Their position is that many people believe no control measures are needed for a fall under three metres, and that this belief is dangerous and incorrect. Wherever a person could fall from any height, the general duties under HSWA require reasonably practicable steps to prevent harm. The three-metre figure came from regulations under earlier legislation and never meant shorter falls were acceptable.

It’s treated the same. The guidelines have a dedicated section on short duration height work, defined as work lasting minutes rather than hours, and the position is that it must be treated like any other work at height. Full edge protection may not be reasonably practicable for a five-minute job, but it still has to be considered in the hazard assessment rather than ruled out, and appropriate fall prevention and a risk assessment are required regardless of how brief the task is. “It was only a couple of minutes” is not a control.

The duty is identical. Regulation 9 of the General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations requires PCBUs to provide information, training, instruction and supervision to workers, and that applies to any work a worker is expected to do, not just work they do often. Infrequent height work is arguably higher risk, because skills fade and unfamiliar tasks get improvised. Where a worker hasn’t been trained, the guidelines are clear that they require supervision by a competent person.

WorkSafe recommends every two years. That’s a change worth noting, because three years has been the industry convention and is still what most providers and site rules specify. The August 2026 guidelines say initial training should happen before the worker starts and during induction, and that regular refresher training may also be required, with two years the recommended interval. It’s a recommendation rather than a legal requirement, but it’s now the benchmark you’d be measured against.

No, but three are specifically named as recommended routes. For workers doing basic work in travel restraint, unit standard 23229, use a safety harness for personal fall prevention when working at height, is a way of achieving competence. For workers planning, installing or operating fall arrest systems and supervising others, unit standard 15757, use, install and disestablish proprietary fall arrest systems when working at height. For rescue planning, unit standard 23232, develop a rescue plan for recovery of a suspended individual after a fall. Unit standard 23229 is a prerequisite for both of the others. In every case an equivalent or higher qualification is acceptable, which is what makes these recommendations rather than requirements.

The guidelines set a higher bar here than anywhere else. All harness work requires training and competence, only trained and competent workers may install and use harness systems on site, and they should be supervised at all times by another trained and competent person. On verification, WorkSafe names three things in combination: NZQA-registered training (an equivalent non-unit standard training is an alternative), practical on-the-job assessment by a competent supervisor, and a Verification of Competency. Training alone is not presented as sufficient.

No, and reaching for one first is usually wrong. The guidelines are organised around control measures in order of preference: scaffolding, edge protection, mechanical access plant, safety mesh, safety decking, then harness systems, then temporary work platforms, catch platforms, soft landing systems, safety nets, and finally ladders as a means of access. A guardrail protects everyone on the platform without depending on anyone clipping on correctly. A harness protects one person, only if used properly, and only if someone can get them down.

They are stronger than most people assume. The guidelines say that if rescue from a deployed fall arrest system is going to be difficult, you should choose different work equipment — an elevating work platform, for example. That reframes the question: rescue difficulty is a reason not to use fall arrest at all, rather than a problem to solve afterwards. Workers using fall arrest systems should never work alone, rescue plans should be documented with on-site personnel trained in them, and unit standard 23232 is the recommended competency for rescue planning.

At least 24 hours before construction work with a risk of falling five metres or more, and before erecting or dismantling scaffolding with the same fall potential. There are real exclusions: residential buildings up to and including two full storeys, work on overhead telecommunications and power lines, work carried out from a ladder only, and minor or routine maintenance and repair. Other height-adjacent work is notifiable too: excavations over 1.5 metres deep needing shoring, and cranes lifting more than 500 kg over a five-metre vertical distance. Notification is made through WorkSafe’s online form.

Where a worker or object could fall more than five metres, and for all suspended scaffolds regardless of height, the scaffold should be erected, altered and dismantled by, or under the direct supervision of, someone holding an appropriate Certificate of Competence. Below that, scaffolds should still be erected by workers trained and experienced with that type of scaffolding, with trainees working under direct supervision of a competent person. Scaffolds should comply with WorkSafe’s scaffolding guidelines or the AS/NZS 1576 series, be inspected regularly, be checked by a competent person before handover, and have a scaffold register kept on site.

Operator logbooks, and the guidelines devote a section to them. WorkSafe describes them as a practical way for PCBUs and workers to show working at height competency: a verifiable record of a worker’s training, experience and proficiency across harness work, scaffolding, MEWP operation and rope access, showing that operators are competent, supervised where required, and using the right method for the control system in use. Logbooks also track the condition and safe use of the equipment itself (harnesses, lanyards, anchor points and scaffolds).

Yes, and it now has its own section. Fitness for work means a worker is in a physical and mental condition to perform their tasks safely and competently without being a risk to themselves or others. Workers must not come to work with severe fatigue or illness, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. PCBUs must ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that a worker is fit to carry out their tasks, and workers must comply with reasonable PCBU policies on fitness for work. For height work the consequence of a lapse in attention is different in kind from most other tasks.