TA-SA-12 · Scaffolding
Working at Heights - On Structure Task Analysis
Working at height on a building or structure where workers are exposed to open edges, voids & fragile surfaces.
What you get
One editable Word document covering working at heights - on structure for Scaffolding: the task broken into steps, the hazards at each step, the controls, and a 5 by 5 risk matrix with residual ratings. Site fields and a crew sign-on are built in.
A Task Analysis is also known as a JSA (Job Safety Analysis) or JSEA. It covers each step of the job, the hazards and the controls.
The steps and hazards it covers
| Step | Hazards |
|---|---|
| Plan, prepare and confirm competency | Workers without the required training, competence or authorisation performing the task - incidents arising from lack of skill, competency or authorityDefective or unsafe plant, powered equipment, leads or attachments failing in useWorking on other people's sites, occupied premises or around the public |
| Selecting the height access & fall control | Inadequate access or fall control selected for the work at height - fall from height |
| Edge protection at open edges & voids | Fall over an unprotected edge, penetration or void - fall from height |
| Working on or over fragile surfaces | Fall through fragile roofing, skylights or aged sheeting - fall from height |
| Ladder & step platform access | Fall from a ladder or unstable access - fall from height |
| Controlling dropped objects | Tools or materials dropped from height striking persons below |
| Weather & changing conditions | Slips & loss of balance at height in wind, rain or heat |
| Clean up & demobilise | Loose materials left at height; uncontrolled access after work |
Each hazard comes with its control measures, an initial and residual risk rating and the person responsible, ready to check against your job.
How to use it
Read it against the actual job. Delete the hazards that are not there, add the ones that are, fill the site fields, then brief the crew and get every name on the sign-on. A document nobody has read is a piece of paper. One the crew helped finish supports worker consultation and records the agreed work method. Engagement under HSWA ss58 to 59 is an ongoing process of seeking and considering workers’ views, so the signed page is evidence of part of it rather than the whole duty.
About Scaffolding Task Analysis
This is one of the Task Analysis documents written for Scaffolding crews. The trade covers erection, alteration and dismantling, edge protection, loading bays, mobile towers, inspection and handover.
See every Scaffolding document, or the whole pack for $199.99. Need 5 or more templates from this trade? The pack costs less than buying them individually, and saves $49.96 at 5.
Where it sits in the law
New Zealand does not require a document of this name. The duty is to manage risk so far as is reasonably practicable (HSWA s36) and to engage workers on it (ss58 to 59). Use a Task Analysis to plan the work, identify the hazards and communicate the controls to your crew. That is also how you evidence both duties.
WorkSafe names “a task analysis, safe work method statement (SWMS), job safety analysis or equivalent planning document” as the same thing done under different headings, and Site Safe titles one of its own SSSP forms “Task Analysis (TA) and Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)”. So if the paperwork you have been sent asks for a TA, a SWMS or a JSA, this is the document it means, written to the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. Only the name changes; the hazards, controls and ratings are the same either way.
Where this sits in your SSSP
A Site-Specific Safety Plan (SSSP) covers the whole job: who is on site, how hazards get reported, what happens in an emergency. A Task Analysis covers one task inside it. They are not the same document. Site Safe’s SSSP pack runs to ten forms, and the Task Analysis is Form 10, filed behind the plan itself.
So a main contractor who asks which SSSP pack you are using, and then asks for a TA covering working at heights - on structure, has asked you for two separate things. This is the second one. Keep it with your SSSP for the job and bring it to the pre-start briefing, because the value is in the crew having read it before the work starts.
Same task, other trades
This task exists in other trades too, and each edition is written for that crew. Compare all 6, or go straight to Cladding & Weatherboards, Demolition & Strip-out, Insulation.