For Manufacturing employers and workers, this guide explains the avoid-prevent-minimise hierarchy at the heart of Irish height law, and how a Working at Heights Course ties it to your day-to-day Manufacturing work.
Hierarchy of Control in Manufacturing
A planned shutdown where maintenance crews access overhead conveyors and services that are impossible to reach during production. When it comes to the avoid-prevent-minimise hierarchy at the heart of Irish height law, Manufacturing teams have to control hazards such as falls from fixed and portable ladders, roof access for extraction and services and maintenance access to overhead plant and gantries. Permit-to-work systems should tie work-at-height tasks to lock-out/tag-out so no one is working above live machinery.
The Manufacturing action list
- Record a risk assessment for each Manufacturing task at height
- Choose collective protection before personal protection
- Certify the team with a Working at Heights Course
- Inspect equipment and keep the logs
- Plan rescue before work begins
The Working at Heights Course makes compliance simple
You do not need a classroom or a lost work day to fix this. Our Working at Heights Course is delivered fully online, takes about 45 minutes, and issues a downloadable certificate the same day. It is CPD certified, RoSPA approved and QQI aligned, and it is written specifically for Manufacturing teams across Ireland.
The Working at Heights Training covers the avoid-prevent-minimise hierarchy, ladder and stepladder safety, MEWPs and scaffolds, harnesses and anchor points, and how to carry out a proper risk assessment. Every learner finishes with a recognised Working at Heights Certificate that stands up to HSA inspection and supports your insurance position.
Training that goes beyond the tick-box
The cheapest control is always to avoid the work at height in the first place. For Hierarchy of Control in Manufacturing, that can mean long-handled tools, lowering the task to ground level, or designing the job so no one needs to climb. Where that is impossible, collective protection such as guardrails and platforms beats personal protection every time.
The most expensive mistake employers make with Hierarchy of Control in Manufacturing is treating training as a box-ticking exercise. The Health and Safety Authority does not just want a certificate on file; it wants evidence that the worker understood the avoid-prevent-minimise hierarchy and applied it on the day. A genuine Working at Heights Course builds that understanding, which is exactly why our online programme uses real scenarios rather than slides.
Frequently asked questions
What is the hierarchy of control for working at height?
Avoid work at height where possible, prevent falls with collective measures, then minimise the consequences with arrest systems, in that order.
How does this affect Manufacturing specifically?
In Manufacturing, the same rules apply with sector-specific hazards. Our Working at Heights Training covers both.
Is online training enough for Manufacturing?
Yes for the core legal and safe-system knowledge; add equipment-specific tickets where the Manufacturing task requires them.
More on staying safe at height
The rescue plan is the part most teams forget. If a worker doing manufacturing work at height falls and is left hanging in a harness, suspension trauma can become life-threatening within minutes. Calling the emergency services is not a rescue plan; having the equipment, the trained people and the method to recover them quickly is. Our Working at Heights Training makes that planning routine.
Get certified today
Do not wait for an HSA inspection or a near miss to act. Manufacturing employers and workers can complete the Working at Heights Course online in 45 minutes and download a certificate the same day. For 10 or more learners, see our team training rates, or contact our team for a tailored quote.
Start the online Working at Heights Training now and put a recognised certificate in every worker's file before the next job at height begins.
