Working at heights in a factory: mezzanines, ladders and platforms

What are the working-at-heights requirements for Victorian factories?

Any factory task with a risk of falling — from a mezzanine, ladder, platform or racking — must be managed under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic)'s general duty to provide a safe working environment so far as reasonably practicable. WorkSafe Victoria guidance is clear that risk increases once someone is working above 2 metres, but also warns that anyone on a ladder is at risk of falling even below that height — so factory falls hazards need managing well before they hit a specific number.

How seriously does WorkSafe treat falls?

Falls are WorkSafe Victoria's number one cause of fatalities in the construction industry: WorkSafe's own fatalities data records 17 deaths from falls from height in construction between December 2020 and December 2024, alongside 1,898 injury compensation claims from falls in the same industry over the same period. Manufacturing sites carry the same underlying hazards — mezzanines, ladders, platforms, elevated plant access — even though that fatality data is reported by industry. WorkSafe's enforcement record shows this isn't limited to building sites: in June 2026, a garlic bread wholesaler was fined a record $3.4 million for workplace manslaughter after a worker fell to his death at a bakery in Reservoir, and a transport company was fined $330,000 after a driver died falling from a truck's elevated tailgate at a commercial laundry in Dandenong South.

What's the hierarchy of control for fall prevention?

WorkSafe Victoria expects employers to work down a hierarchy of controls, using a mixture of measures rather than relying on just one:

Level	Control type	Example
1	Eliminate the risk	Do the work from the ground
2	Passive fall prevention devices	Guardrails, scaffolds, EWPs, safety mesh
3	Work positioning systems	Rope access, travel restraints
4	Fall-arrest systems	Harnesses, catch platforms
5	Ladders and administrative controls	Short, low-risk tasks only

Ladders sit at the bottom of the hierarchy for a reason — they're a last resort for genuinely short, low-risk jobs, not a substitute for a stable platform when a task will take any real length of time.

What does this mean for mezzanines specifically?

WorkSafe Victoria's guidance on mezzanines notes that an unprotected mezzanine — a floor open to the level below — places people at high risk of falling off the edge, falling through the floor surface, or falling while accessing the level. The guidance covers assessing the risk, using safe design to reduce or eliminate the fall risk, setting up safe work systems for accessing and working on the mezzanine, and maintaining it over time so those controls don't degrade. In practice, that generally means edge protection around open sides and any gaps around chutes or equipment, secure and well-designed access points, and keeping the surface itself in good repair.

What about ladders and platforms on the factory floor?

WorkSafe Victoria's guidance on portable ladders makes the point plainly: the risk of serious injury or death increases once you're working above 2 metres, but anyone on a ladder is at risk of falling even below that height. That's a useful prompt for manufacturers to treat "it's not that high" as a reason to check the control, not skip it. For anything beyond a short, low-risk task, a stable platform — an EWP, scaffold, or fixed platform with guardrails — is the safer choice under the hierarchy above.

Practical steps for manufacturers

1. Map every elevated work area — mezzanines, platforms, fixed ladders, racking access points — and note the fall risk at each.
2. Apply the hierarchy of controls to each one, starting with whether the task can be eliminated by working from the ground.
3. Check edge protection and access points on mezzanines are intact and haven't been bypassed for convenience.
4. Restrict ladder use to short, low-risk tasks, and make sure workers know that "under 2 metres" doesn't mean "no risk."
5. Review after any near miss, not just after an incident — a lot of fall risks show up as close calls first.

Getting this right on an active factory floor, where access needs change as production changes, is one of the areas a safety practitioner on call can add the most value — spotting where a mezzanine access point has drifted out of compliance since it was last checked is often easier for someone looking at it fresh. You can book a site assessment with Ardmor's team at https://ardmor.com.au/book-audit to get that outside view.

FAQ

At what height do working-at-heights rules apply in a Victorian factory? WorkSafe Victoria guidance notes the risk of serious injury or death increases above 2 metres, but also warns that anyone on a ladder is at risk of falling even below that height — so the general duty to manage fall risk applies well before a specific height is reached.

What's the safest way to give workers access to a mezzanine? WorkSafe Victoria's mezzanine guidance points to safe design (edge protection, covered gaps around chutes and equipment), safe work systems for access, and ongoing maintenance so those controls don't degrade over time.

Are ladders allowed for factory maintenance work? Yes, but WorkSafe Victoria's hierarchy of control places ladders and administrative controls at the lowest level, appropriate only for short, low-risk tasks — higher-risk or longer jobs should use a more reliable control like an EWP, scaffold or guardrail.

This article is general information for Victorian manufacturers, not legal advice. Last updated: 10 August 2026.