Working at Height Questions
CITB working at height questions test whether you know how the law ranks ways to stop falls, and the right answer usually avoids the height first, then prevents a fall, then limits it.
Many questions quote a regulation and ask what it requires, or put you on a ladder, a scaffold or a roof and ask what must happen first. Our questions are built on the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and on HSE guidance, including its brief guide INDG401 and HSG33 on roof work. A common trap: thinking a short job on a stepladder falls outside the rules. Take the timed quiz below, then read the 10 sample questions further down, each with a worked explanation. Practise working at height before your CITB Operatives Test or Specialist test, and check yourself with a CITB Operatives mock test. CITB also runs a specialist work at height version, the CITB Specialist Working at Height Test, which adds questions on that specialism to the core Operatives questions.
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The timed working at height quiz draws from our full working at height set and explains every answer. The quiz is free: 1 quiz every 7 days without an account, or 30 a day with a free account. A paid plan gives you unlimited quizzes.
Free practice quiz
Working at Height practice quiz (timed)
- questions
- 20
- questions
- minutes
- 30
- minutes
- to pass (90%)
- 18
- to pass (90%)
Ready when you are
Find a quiet 30 minutes. The clock starts when you press start, and you see your score the moment you submit.
- Answers and explanations are shown at the end, with every question to review.
- A fresh set of questions every attempt, drawn from our Working at Height set.
- About 90 seconds a question, against about 54 in the real test, so there is time to think.
- Every answer comes with a worked explanation.
How do CITB working at height questions usually ask it?
Working at height questions usually name a regulation, a piece of access equipment or a roof, then ask what the law requires or what you do first.
| Question pattern | What it looks like, in our words | What the right answer usually does |
|---|---|---|
| The order of control | A job could be done from the ground, from a roof that is already safe, or from equipment, and you pick the option the law wants first | Avoids the height if the job can be done safely another way. Then it prevents a fall, and only after that limits the distance and consequences of one |
| Ladders, scaffolds and platforms | A stepladder for a quick job, a scaffold after it is put up, or a tower moved across the site | Treats a stepladder as a ladder, and checks that equipment whose safety depends on how it was assembled is inspected in the position where it is used |
| Fragile roofs and falling objects | Crossing a roof with rooflights, or getting rid of waste from a scaffold or roof | Keeps people off fragile surfaces where the work can be done safely another way, and never throws or tips material from height where it could hurt someone |
Which law and guidance are working at height questions based on?
Our working at height questions are built mainly on the Work at Height Regulations 2005, with HSE guidance for the order of control, ladders and roof work.
| Law or guidance | What the questions take from it |
|---|---|
| Work at Height Regulations 2005 | What counts as work at height and as a ladder (regulation 2), planning that includes rescue (regulation 4), avoiding, preventing and limiting falls (regulation 6), collective protection before personal protection (regulation 7), fragile surfaces (regulation 9), falling objects (regulation 10), inspection (regulation 12) and reporting defects (regulation 14) |
| HSE INDG401, Working at height: A brief guide (rev2, 2014) | The avoid, prevent and minimise steps, the point that ladders and stepladders are not banned, competence for short ladder jobs, and when working platforms are inspected |
| HSE HSG33, Health and safety in roof work (fifth edition, 2020) | The order of control for fragile roofs, safety nets and harnesses, why fall arrest is the last resort, and using a rubble chute for roof waste |
Regulation 7 gives collective protection, such as a guard rail, priority over personal protection, such as a harness. For who provides PPE and how it must fit and be looked after, practise PPE Questions.
Working at height sample questions with worked explanations
Here are 10 working at height practice questions, each with the answer and a worked explanation.
Sample question 1 · Working at Height
Under regulation 6(4), what should be used in preference where practicable?
- An existing place of work that complies with Schedule 1 requirementsCorrect answer
- A harness attached to a suitable anchor point above the work position
- A ladder, provided that the work is short duration and low risk overall
- A safety net rigged beneath the level at which the work is done
Why A: Regulation 6(4)(a) puts an existing place of work, or existing means of access complying with Schedule 1, ahead of providing fall prevention equipment.
Sample question 2 · Working at Height
Where preventing objects from falling is not practicable, what does regulation 10(2) require?
- That work below the area is halted until the work at height is finished
- That the objects are lowered by hand rather than by mechanical means
- That the area below is inspected hourly by a competent person
- Steps to prevent people being struck by falling material or objectsCorrect answer
Why D: Regulation 10(2) shifts to protecting people: suitable and sufficient steps to prevent any person being struck by falling material or objects liable to cause injury.
Sample question 3 · Working at Height
Work can be done safely from the ground using an extending tool. What does regulation 6(2) require?
- That the work is done from the ground rather than at heightCorrect answer
- That the worker chooses whichever method is quicker to complete
- That a harness is worn regardless of the method that is chosen
- That the work at height is carried out with a permit in place
Why A: Regulation 6(2) requires that work is not carried out at height where it is reasonably practicable to carry it out safely otherwise than at height.
Sample question 4 · Working at Height
What does regulation 12(1) tell you about which equipment must be inspected?
- All equipment used anywhere on the construction site without exception
- Only equipment that the manufacturer states requires periodic inspection
- Only equipment to which regulation 8 and Schedules 2 to 6 applyCorrect answer
- Only equipment that has been in continuous use for over a month
Why C: Regulation 12(1) limits the inspection regime to work equipment covered by regulation 8 and Schedules 2 to 6, which is where the detailed requirements sit.
Sample question 5 · Working at Height
Schedule 2 says toe-boards must be suitable and sufficient. What does HSE give as an example of an acceptable toe-board?
- One with a minimum height of 470 mm
- One with a minimum height of 950 mm
- One with a minimum height of 100 mmCorrect answer
- One with a minimum height of 25 mm
Why C: HSE's FAQ says the Regulations require toe-boards to be suitable and sufficient, and gives a toe-board of a minimum 100 mm height as acceptable.
Sample question 6 · Working at Height
HSE says not to stand and work on the very top step of a stepladder unless one condition is met. What is that condition?
- When the stepladder is shorter than two metres from top to base
- When the work will take less than a few minutes to complete
- When the stepladder is facing the work rather than side on
- When there is a suitable handhold available at that heightCorrect answer
Why D: HSE says don't stand and work on the top three steps, including a step forming the very top of the stepladder, unless there is a suitable handhold.
Sample question 7 · Working at Height
What does HSE say architects and designers should do about work at height over a building's lifespan?
- Leave it to the contractor who maintains the building
- Specify harness anchors on every roof they design
- Only consider it during the construction phase
- Design out the need to work at height where they canCorrect answer
Why D: INDG401 says designers have CDM duties to consider work at height over a building's lifespan, for cleaning, maintenance and repair, and should design out the need to work at height if possible.
Sample question 8 · Working at Height
HSG33 Table 5 compares work-restraint and fall-arrest systems. What does it say the two have in common?
- Both stop the user from ever reaching a position to fall from
- Both are collective systems that protect everyone nearby
- Both are passive systems that need no action by the user
- Both give personal protection and both are active systemsCorrect answer
Why D: HSG33 Table 5 lists both systems as personal protection, not collective, and both as active systems, not passive. Only work restraint prevents falls; fall arrest minimises the distance and consequences of a fall.
Sample question 9 · Working at Height
What does HSE say is the safest way to remove waste materials from a roof?
- Throwing it into a skip
- Carrying it down a ladder
- Dropping it into a netted area
- A rubble chuteCorrect answer
Why D: HSG33 says the safest option for removing waste materials from a roof is a rubble chute. It records a member of the public seriously injured by tiles thrown from a roof.
Sample question 10 · Working at Height
A contractor wants to fix sheeting or debris netting to an existing scaffold. What does HSE say first?
- Fix it straight away, because adding netting makes any scaffold safer to work on
- Fix it only to the top lift, where the wind load is the lowest
- Ask the site first aider to sign off the netting as being safe
- Tell those who designed and erected it, so it can be designed for itCorrect answer
Why D: HSE says never sheet or attach debris netting to a scaffold without informing those involved in its design and erection, as they need to make sure the scaffold is designed for it.
Which working at height answers catch people out?
The traps are answers that put stepladders outside the rules, trust a fragile roof, or jump to fall arrest before trying to prevent the fall.
A stepladder is a ladder in law. The Regulations define a ladder to include a fixed ladder and a stepladder, so a short job on one is still work at height. HSE's INDG401 says it is a common misconception that ladders and stepladders are banned, and that for low-risk, short jobs they can be a sensible choice when the risk assessment supports it.
A fragile surface is one that would be liable to fail under any reasonably foreseeable load, and INDG401 lists rooflights and non-reinforced fibre cement sheets among the surfaces likely to be fragile. Where work on or near one cannot be avoided, regulation 9 calls for platforms, coverings, guard rails or similar support or protection, so far as is reasonably practicable. HSG33 puts working from underneath the roof first.
Once work at height cannot be avoided, the duty is to prevent a fall. Regulation 6 asks for suitable and sufficient measures to stop anyone falling a distance liable to cause injury, starting with a place of work that is already safe. Nets and fall arrest harnesses come after that, and HSG33 calls personal fall arrest the last resort because it does not prevent the fall.
Where does working at height sit in the CITB test?
Working at height is part of the core knowledge you practise for the CITB Operatives test. The Specialist tests include the core questions too, so the same knowledge counts there.
Working at height FAQs
Do the Work at Height Regulations apply to stepladders?
Yes. The Regulations say a ladder includes a stepladder, so working from one is work at height. HSE says a stepladder can still be the right choice for a low-risk, short job when the risk assessment supports it.
Are these the real CITB test questions?
No. These are practice questions written for this site, each tied to the law or HSE guidance it tests; CITB does not publish its test questions.