Working at height training online in the UK: where to train and what employers look for

What employers look for in an online working at height certificate

Your employer decides what working at height training you need, based on its risk assessments. Regulation 5 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 requires that everyone involved in work at height, from planning and supervising to doing it, is competent, or is supervised by a competent person while being trained. When an employer checks a certificate, they usually look for:

• Content that follows the current regulations. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 in England, Wales and Scotland, and the 2005 Regulations in Northern Ireland, including the hierarchy of avoid, prevent and minimise.
• A clear, verifiable record. The course name, hours of learning and completion date, with a way to confirm the certificate.
• The essentials every worker needs. What counts as work at height, planning and risk assessment, weather and fragile surfaces, safe use of ladders and steps, towers and platforms, fall arrest and restraint, falling objects and rescue.
• A refresh date. Competence has to be kept up as equipment and tasks change, so a refresh date matters.

Lift College's certificate does each of these. It records Working at Height Training, 1.5 hours of learning, your completion date and a recommended refresh date 3 years on, with a unique certificate number and a verification link. Specific equipment, such as a mobile elevating work platform or a harness, also needs practical training on that equipment, and the course tells you when that applies.

What the Lift College course covers

There are 5 short modules, each with a knowledge check, then a multiple choice final test with an 80% pass mark and unlimited free retakes.

1. Working at height and the law. What counts as height, the fall statistics, the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and what regulation 5 on competence means for you.
2. The hierarchy of controls. Avoid working at height where you can, prevent falls with existing safe places or collective equipment, and minimise the distance and consequences if a fall happens.
3. Planning and risk assessment. Assessing the task, the people, the equipment and the environment. Weather, fragile roofs and surfaces, lighting, exclusion zones and emergency and rescue arrangements.
4. Ladders, steps and towers. When a ladder is the right choice, the one in four rule, three points of contact, securing, checks before use, stepladders, podium steps and mobile tower erection and inspection.
5. Platforms, harnesses and falling objects. Mobile elevating work platforms and who may operate them, fall restraint against fall arrest, anchor points and inspections, rescue plans, and preventing tools and materials falling on people below.

By the end you can recognise work at height in your own job, apply the hierarchy of avoid, prevent and minimise, check and use a ladder, stepladder or tower safely, explain the difference between fall restraint and fall arrest, and know when a task needs equipment training or should not go ahead.

The law and guidance it is written around

• Work at Height Regulations 2005, regulation 5 (England, Wales and Scotland). Every employer shall ensure that no person engages in any activity, including organisation, planning and supervision, in relation to work at height or work equipment for use in such work unless he is competent to do so or, if being trained, is being supervised by a competent person.
• Work at Height Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 (Northern Ireland). The equivalent regulations for Northern Ireland, with the same hierarchy of controls and the same competence requirement.
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2 (England, Wales and Scotland). The general duty on employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees, including information, instruction, training and supervision.

How Lift College compares with other UK providers

Details below are as each provider shows them on its own course page, checked 16 October 2026. "Check provider" means the page did not state it.

With Lift College the £19.99 is the full price for one learner, with nothing added at checkout, and the refresher is free when your recommended refresh date arrives. Retakes of the final test are free and unlimited.

Who it suits

Working at Height Training is for anyone whose job takes them off the ground, even occasionally, in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is for you if:

• you use a ladder, stepladder or tower at work, even occasionally
• you work in construction, maintenance, warehousing, retail, cleaning or facilities
• you load vehicles, reach racking or work near an open edge or fragile roof
• you supervise people who work at height
• your employer has asked for working at height awareness training

Online training covers the knowledge. Operating a mobile elevating work platform, erecting a tower or wearing a harness also needs practical training on that equipment, which your employer arranges; this course prepares you for it.

For general workplace safety, see our health and safety guide. Falls on the level are covered in our slips, trips and falls guide, and lifting in our manual handling guide. See every course on the health and safety courses page or browse all Lift College CPD courses. Buying for a team? Ask about team enrolment.

Enrol on Working at Height Training for £19.99 and start module 1 the minute you pay. Ask within 14 days of paying and we refund you in full.