CSCS Working at Height Questions
Ladders, scaffolds, harnesses and the hierarchy of control.
These questions cover working at height for the CITB Health, Safety and Environment (HS&E) test, the exam UK construction workers pass to get a CSCS card.
Working at Height: practice quiz
- 20 questions · 30 minutes · pass mark 90%
- Answers and explanations are shown at the end, with every question to review.
- A fresh 20 questions every time, drawn from all 125 in this topic's bank. Includes 2 select-two questions and 4 picture questions, as in the real test.
- About 90 seconds a question, against about 54 in the real test, so there is time to think.
10 sample Working at Height questions and answers
These 10 come from the 125 questions the practice quiz above draws from, written out with the correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Read them through when you want to revise rather than test yourself.
1. Under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, what must an employer settle first when planning work at height?
Answer: Whether the work can reasonably practicably be done without working at height at all
- A) Whether the work can reasonably practicably be done without working at height at all (correct answer)
- B) Which harness and lanyard the workers will be issued with before the job begins on site
- C) How many workers will be needed on the platform at any one time during the shift
- D) Whether the weather forecast for the day allows the work to go ahead as planned
Why: Regulation 6(2) requires every employer to ensure that work is not carried out at height where it is reasonably practicable to carry it out safely otherwise than at height. Avoidance comes first. Only once the work genuinely has to happen at height do the later paragraphs apply: preventing falls under 6(3), then minimising the distance and consequences of a fall under 6(5). Choosing the right equipment matters, but it is a step down the hierarchy, not the top of it.
2. What does regulation 4(3) say about weather?
Answer: Work at height is carried out only when weather does not jeopardise safety
- A) Work at height must stop whenever any rain falls on the work area
- B) Weather is a matter for the individual worker to judge on the day
- C) Weather only matters where the work is more than ten metres high
- D) Work at height is carried out only when weather does not jeopardise safety (correct answer)
Why: Regulation 4(3) requires the employer to ensure work at height is carried out only when the weather conditions do not jeopardise the health or safety of those involved.
3. Under the Regulations, what does 'ladder' include?
Answer: A fixed ladder and a stepladder, as well as a portable leaning ladder
- A) Only portable leaning ladders that are used to reach a higher work level
- B) Only ladders that comply with the current British Standard for ladders
- C) Any means of access with rungs, including a scaffold access tower
- D) A fixed ladder and a stepladder, as well as a portable leaning ladder (correct answer)
Why: The interpretation regulation states that ladder includes a fixed ladder and a stepladder, so the ladder requirements are not limited to leaning ladders.
4. Which best describes the structure of regulation 6?
Answer: A descending hierarchy: avoid, then prevent, then minimise the fall
- A) A single duty to provide fall arrest equipment for work at height
- B) A list of the approved equipment types that may be used at height
- C) A descending hierarchy: avoid, then prevent, then minimise the fall (correct answer)
- D) A set of minimum heights above which each measure becomes required
Why: Regulation 6 runs from avoiding work at height, to preventing falls, to minimising the distance and consequences where the risk is not eliminated.
5. When deciding what precautions are needed for a work at height task, which factors does HSE say to weigh up?
Answer: The height of the task, its duration and frequency, and the surface condition
- A) The age of the equipment and how much it would cost to hire something better
- B) Whether the client has asked for the job to be done quickly and the price
- C) The height of the task, its duration and frequency, and the surface condition (correct answer)
- D) The number of workers on site that day and the overall length of the whole project
Why: INDG401 says factors to weigh up include the height of the task, the duration and frequency, and the condition of the surface being worked on, after first assessing the risks.
6. What angle does HSE's 1-in-4 rule give for a leaning ladder?
Answer: About 75 degrees, one unit out for every four units up
- A) About 60 degrees, one unit out for every two units up
- B) About 45 degrees, one unit out for every one unit up
- C) About 85 degrees, one unit out for every eight units up
- D) About 75 degrees, one unit out for every four units up (correct answer)
Why: HSE says a leaning ladder should be one unit out for every four units up, which gives an angle of about 75 degrees.
7. How do HSE's pre-use checks on a ladder differ from detailed visual inspections?
Answer: Pre-use checks need not be recorded; detailed inspections are recorded
- A) Pre-use checks are done once a year; detailed inspections are done daily
- B) Pre-use checks are recorded; detailed inspections need no record
- C) Pre-use checks need not be recorded; detailed inspections are recorded (correct answer)
- D) Pre-use checks are done by the employer; detailed ones by the user
Why: HSE says pre-use checks are for the immediate benefit of the user and do not need to be recorded, while detailed visual inspections are the employer's responsibility, carried out at fixed intervals and recorded.
8. A working platform is used for construction work, and a person could fall 2 metres or more from it. Under regulation 12(4), it must not be used unless inspected within what period?
Answer: The previous 7 days
- A) The previous month
- B) The previous 3 months
- C) The previous 7 days (correct answer)
- D) The previous 14 days
Why: Regulation 12(4) says such a platform must not be used in any position unless it has been inspected in that position, or for a mobile platform on the site, within the previous 7 days.
9. A harness and lanyard have arrested a worker's fall. What does HSE say must happen before any part of that system is used again?
Answer: It must be examined in detail or replaced as the maker instructs
- A) It can be reused once it has been washed and dried thoroughly
- B) It can be reused by a different worker of a lighter weight
- C) It must be examined in detail or replaced as the maker instructs (correct answer)
- D) It can be reused straight away if there is no visible damage
Why: HSG33 says that if a personal fall-protection system has arrested a fall, none of its elements should be used until they have had a detailed examination or been replaced in line with the manufacturer's instructions.
10. During a MEWP's daily checks, the operator reports a defect on an item that is safety critical. What does HSE say should happen?
Answer: Put the defect right quickly and take the MEWP out of service
- A) Record it on the hire paperwork and keep using the MEWP until its next service
- B) Carry on for the rest of the shift, with a second person watching from the ground
- C) Put the defect right quickly and take the MEWP out of service (correct answer)
- D) Let the operator decide, as they hold a valid MEWP operator training card
Why: HSE says operators should be encouraged to report defects, that reported problems should be put right quickly, and that the MEWP should be taken out of service if the item is safety critical. This sits alongside daily visual checks, regular inspections and the thorough examination regime.
What this topic covers in the CSCS test
Falls from a height are the most common cause of fatal accidents at work in Great Britain. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 set out how the risk must be managed, and the test expects you to know the order in which controls are chosen. Work at height means any place where, without precautions, you could fall a distance liable to cause injury, including through a fragile roof or into a hole in the ground.
- The avoid, prevent, minimise hierarchy set out in regulation 6 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005
- Choosing the right access equipment, and when a ladder or stepladder is acceptable
- Guard rails, toe boards, platform width and scaffold duty ratings
- Inspection intervals for scaffolds, towers, MEWPs and ladders, and who is competent to inspect
- Fragile surfaces such as roof lights, liner panels, corroded metal sheets and non-reinforced fibre cement
- Stopping tools and materials falling on the people below
- Emergency and rescue planning, including how someone left hanging in a harness is recovered
Key facts worth memorising
- Avoid, prevent, minimise
- Regulation 6 requires employers to avoid work at height where it is reasonably practicable to do the job another way, then prevent falls, then minimise the distance and consequences of a fall.
- Guard rail at least 950 mm
- For construction work the top guard rail must be at least 950 mm above the edge, and any unprotected gap between guard rails must not exceed 470 mm.
- Scaffold inspection every 7 days
- A scaffold must be inspected by a competent person after installation and before first use, at intervals of no more than every 7 days after that, and following anything liable to affect its safety such as high winds.
- Ladders: 30 minutes as a guide
- HSE guidance says that if a task needs you to stay on a leaning ladder or stepladder for more than 30 minutes at a time, you should use different equipment.
- Assume a general purpose duty rating
- Unless your scaffold provider tells you otherwise, assume a scaffold is general purpose with a maximum load of 2 kN per square metre (200 kg per square metre).
- 31 fall deaths in 2025/26
- HSE recorded 31 worker deaths from falls from a height in 2025/26, out of 126 worker fatalities in total, making it the single largest cause. These are HSE's provisional figures.
What people get wrong
Ladders are banned on construction sites.
HSE calls this a common misconception. Ladders are legal and are sometimes the most suitable equipment, provided the risk assessment supports it and the ladder can be level, stable and secured.
Short duration on its own justifies using a ladder.
HSE is explicit that short duration is not the deciding factor. You must consider the risk first, and the 30 minute figure is guidance on when to switch equipment, not permission to climb.
A harness makes any work at height safe.
A harness is personal protection and only minimises the consequences of a fall. Collective protection such as a guard rail, which protects everyone without them having to do anything, comes first.
If a scaffold looks sound you can use it.
Check the tag and the inspection record. If it has not been inspected within the last 7 days, or since high winds or an alteration, it should not be used.
Answering these questions in the test
Most working at height questions are really testing the order of the controls, so read every option through that lens. If one answer lets you do the job from the ground, it beats everything else. If you must go up, the option giving collective protection (a guard rail, a fully boarded tower, a MEWP basket) beats one relying on the individual to clip on correctly. Watch for the numbers, because they appear often: check a ladder before every use, inspect a scaffold at least every 7 days, top guard rail at least 950 mm. Any answer involving improvised access, a chair, a stack of pallets, an oil drum or the top step of a stepladder, is always wrong.
Background reading
Drilling the questions tells you what you are getting wrong. It does not always tell you why. For this topic that is covered in Working at Height Hierarchy of Control. Avoid, then prevent, then minimise, and why there is no two metre trigger height in the Regulations.
Check which card scheme covers your trade
Scaffolders are carded by CISRS rather than CSCS, and every CISRS grade needs a CITB HS&E test pass on first issue, so this bank is the right practice. Which paper each grade needs is on CISRS card.
Sources
Written from the following. Where a figure could not be verified against one of these, it has been left out rather than approximated. Our sources and methodology explains how we date and re-check them. Spotted something wrong? Report an error and we will fix it.
Topics that come up alongside working at height
Ready for the real thing?
When you are scoring 90% or better here, take a CSCS mock test for Operatives under exam conditions, then how to book the CSCS test. Still under 90%? A full CSCS exam test shows which topic to drill next.