Key Insights
- From 1 October 2026, Regulation 79 of the WHS (General) Regulations 2022 (WA) applies in full to high risk construction work. Every fall between levels that is reasonably likely to cause injury must be controlled through the hierarchy of control, regardless of height.
- The old 2-metre and 3-metre working at heights thresholds under OSH Regulation 3.55 no longer determine which controls are acceptable. The 2-metre mark still defines high risk construction work and triggers a SWMS.
- Officers of PCBUs carry personal due diligence duties under section 27 of the WHS Act 2020 (WA). A Category 1 offence carries up to $680,000 and five years imprisonment, and it does not require recklessness.
- WorkSafe WA will take an educative approach for six months from October 2026, with full enforcement from around April 2027. If a transition plan does not exist yet, the due diligence gap exists today.
Twenty-four workers were killed in falls from height in 2024. Nearly half of them were on construction sites. A WA director was personally fined $45,000 after one of his workers fell just 2.2 metres. If you are an officer of a PCBU in the WA construction sector, the way fall risk is regulated on your sites is about to change, and so is your personal exposure.
On 1 October 2026, the transitional period for fall from height regulations in high-risk construction work expires. The old prescriptive 2-metre and 3-metre height thresholds under OSH Regulation 3.55 will no longer drive how fall risks are controlled. Regulation 79 of the WHS (General) Regulations 2022 (WA) takes full effect, requiring a hierarchy of control for any fall between levels that is reasonably likely to cause injury, regardless of height. The 2-metre threshold still defines high-risk construction work and triggers a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS), but it no longer determines which controls are acceptable.
In plain language, this means you can no longer look at a job and say “it’s under 2 metres, we’re fine.” Every fall risk on your site needs to be assessed, controlled, and documented, no matter the height. And you need to show you considered the safest option first, not just the easiest one.
This is not new law. It is the removal of the last exemption from law that has applied everywhere else in WA since March 2022. Four years of lead time. The grace period is almost over.
Frequently asked questions
Any task where a person could fall from one level to another and be injured. That includes work on roofs, ladders, scaffolds, elevated work platforms and mobile plant, and work near open edges, voids or penetrations. Under the WHS (General) Regulations 2022 (WA) there is no minimum height: if a fall is reasonably likely to cause injury, the risk must be managed.
References & Sources
- Source: Safe Work Australia, Work-related fatalities dashboard, filtered to Construction, 2003–2024
- Construction company and director fined over worker fall, WorkSafe WA
- Safe Work Australia's Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025 report
- Freight company and director fined $400,000 over worker injury, WorkSafe WA
