For Food Production employers and workers, this guide explains how to carry out and record a work-at-height risk assessment, and how a Working at Heights Course ties it to your day-to-day Food Production work.
Risk Assessment in Food Production
A food plant's overnight sanitation and maintenance window, when crews access overhead services above freshly cleaned, slippery floors. When it comes to how to carry out and record a work-at-height risk assessment, Food Production teams have to control hazards such as roof and plant maintenance, falls onto hard, slip-prone floors and work near silos and intake points. Wet, hygienic environments add slip risk to height work, so anti-slip access and clear scheduling are essential.
The Food Production action list
- Record a risk assessment for each Food Production 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 Food Production 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 most expensive mistake employers make with Risk Assessment in Food Production 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.
Documentation is what turns good practice into proven compliance for Risk Assessment in Food Production. Keep your risk assessment, your method statement, your equipment inspection logs and your training records together, and an HSA visit becomes a short, calm conversation rather than a drawn-out investigation.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a risk assessment for working at height?
Yes. A written, task-specific risk assessment is a legal requirement before any work at height begins.
How does this affect Food Production specifically?
In Food Production, the same rules apply with sector-specific hazards. Our Working at Heights Training covers both.
Is online training enough for Food Production?
Yes for the core legal and safe-system knowledge; add equipment-specific tickets where the Food Production task requires them.
More on staying safe at height
Young and new workers are over-represented in fall statistics, and food production work at height is no exception. Setting good habits from the very first day - never climbing on furniture, never overreaching, always inspecting equipment - is far easier than unlearning bad ones later. Early certification with a Working at Heights Course pays back for an entire career.
The cheapest control is always to avoid the work at height in the first place. For food production work at height, 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.
Get certified today
Do not wait for an HSA inspection or a near miss to act. Food Production 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.
