If you are one of the Employees in Painting and Decorating, working at height is part of the job - and so is the legal duty that comes with it. Here is what Employees in Irish Painting and Decorating need to know, and how a Working at Heights Course keeps you covered.
The responsibilities of Employees
You also have legal duties: to take care of yourself and others, and to use the training and equipment provided. In day-to-day Painting and Decorating work that means you should:
- Report defects and unsafe conditions
- Wear and check PPE provided
- Never take shortcuts at height
- Use access equipment as trained
The Painting and Decorating hazards Employees must control
In Painting and Decorating, the falls that Employees most often have to prevent involve prolonged work at height causing fatigue, work on stairwells and atria and falls from towers and platforms. Painting is classic short-duration, high-frequency height work where overreaching from ladders causes most incidents.
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 Employees in Painting and Decorating.
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 Employees in Painting and Decorating 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.
Young and new workers are over-represented in fall statistics, and Employees in Painting and Decorating 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.
Frequently asked questions
Do Employees in Painting and Decorating need their own height training?
Yes. Whatever your role, if you plan, supervise or carry out work at height you need a Working at Heights Certificate.
What course suits Employees best?
The Working at Heights Course covers the duties of Employees and all other roles in one accredited, online programme.
How long does it take?
About 45 minutes online, with a same-day certificate, so Employees in Painting and Decorating stay compliant without losing a work day.
More on staying safe at height
Competence is not the same as experience. A worker who has used ladders for twenty years can still carry twenty years of bad habits. Refresher training matters for employees in painting and decorating precisely because confidence drifts away from the rules over time, and a quick refresher resets it.
Falls from height remain one of the leading causes of serious and fatal workplace injury in Ireland, year after year. The pattern is depressingly consistent for employees in painting and decorating: a short task, a familiar setting, a ladder or platform that seemed fine, and a single moment of overreach. Proper training breaks that pattern by making the safe choice the automatic one.
Get certified today
Do not wait for an HSA inspection or a near miss to act. Employees in Painting and Decorating 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.
