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Gutter Repair

Gutter Repair · Guide

Working safely at height on ladders, roofs and gutters

The regulators start from one rule: if the work can be done from the ground, do it there. When a ladder is used, SafeWork NSW’s guidance is specific: the right ladder for the job, set up on a flat, stable surface, extension ladders at about one metre out for every four metres of height, three points of contact, and no leaning or reaching away from it.

Who these rules are written for

Read this first

SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria and Safe Work Australia write for workplaces. The duties SafeWork NSW describes sit with a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), who has to protect workers against the risk of falling from one level to another, whatever the height. Their guidance is reported here faithfully, neither softened nor made stronger, for anyone who wants to know how the people who regulate this work think about it.

Gutters come up by name. Safe Work Australia’s model code for housing construction says single and extension ladders should only be used for getting on and off a work area, or for short, light work that can be done safely from the ladder, and gives repairing a gutter as one of its examples. The same code opens its ladder section with a warning: falls from ladders have caused a significant number of serious and fatal injuries, even at relatively low working heights.

Rung by rung

The steps below follow the order a job does: decide, choose, check, set up, climb, work, and know when to stop.

  1. Stay on the ground if you can

    “If you don’t have to work at heights, don’t. Working from the ground or solid construction is always the safest option.” SafeWork NSW says ladders are for simple access jobs or short-duration work, and to consider alternatives such as scaffolding or an elevated work platform. Safe Work Australia’s code says ladders should only be considered after those safer alternatives have been considered first.

  2. Choose the right ladder

    SafeWork NSW says the ladder should comply with Australian standards and suit the load the job puts on it. A-frame and extension ladders may suit some tasks, but it rates a platform ladder as safer. For construction workplaces, Safe Work Australia’s code calls for ladders made for industrial use with a load rating of 120 kg or more, and that domestic or homemade ladders should not be used. SafeWork NSW adds: only use a ladder if you are physically capable of doing so.

  3. Check it before every use

    Inspect the ladder for damage before each use. The code names what to look for: broken rungs, stiles and footings. It also asks that the ladder is the correct height for the work, so there is no over-reaching or stretching, and that its locking devices are secure.

  4. Set it up on firm ground

    Always on a flat, stable surface; where that isn’t possible, SafeWork NSW points to ladders with safety devices such as leg levellers, anti-slip gutter guards and stabilisers. Angle an extension ladder at 1:4, with the base 1 metre from the structure for every 4 metres of height, and secure it at the top, the bottom or both; if that isn’t possible, have someone hold it. An extension ladder should reach at least one metre past the landing, and an A-frame should only be used locked fully open.

  5. Climb with three points of contact

    That means both hands and a foot, or both feet and a hand, on the ladder. Carry only small items up or down the ladder, never large or heavy ones such as building materials, and nothing that stops you keeping three points of contact. The code suggests a tool belt or side pouch so tools are not carried in the hands. Coming down, stay facing the ladder and climb to the bottom rung before stepping off.

  6. Work within the stiles

    Never lean or reach away from the ladder. Do not climb or work past the second-last rung, and never straddle the top of an A-frame. The code puts the reach limit in plain terms: the centre of the torso should stay within the ladder stiles, and on a single or extension ladder, no one should stand on a rung within 900 mm of the top. Only light work, with tools that can be used safely in one hand; no one underneath, and no one else on the ladder at the same time.

  7. Know when not to climb

    Safe Work Australia’s code says ladder use should only go ahead with extra precautions in very wet or windy conditions, in doorways and access areas, next to traffic unless the work area is barricaded, and next to powerlines unless the worker is trained and authorised and using the correct ladder for the work.

On the roof, and at the roof edge

SafeWork NSW says falls happen off the edge of a roof, or through fragile materials such as skylights or plastic roof sheeting. At edges it points to temporary edge protection, such as scaffold or roof guard rails. Over fragile roofing it points to crawl boards, skylight covers, or exclusion zones marked out physically.

For fixing fascias and gutters on a house with eaves during construction, Safe Work Australia’s code says an external platform should be provided, that every external platform above 2 metres should be at least two planks (450 mm) wide, and that guardrailing should be fitted where there is a risk of injury from a fall. Perimeter scaffolds and elevating work platforms are among its other options.

In NSW, construction work that carries a risk of a fall of more than two metres needs a safe work method statement.

An older roof can bring asbestos into the job. The national Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says asbestos cement roofs are usually the most worn of the asbestos materials still in homes, and that heavy rain can carry loose fibres down into the gutters. The same agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and in some places the law goes further: in the Australian Capital Territory any removal needs a licensed removalist, unless it is part of minor routine maintenance or other minor work, and in Queensland a home owner must be trained before taking out more than 10 square metres of non-friable material, and only a removalist holding a Class A licence may remove friable material. The agency adds that a professional is the easier, safer and often cheaper choice. Asbestos waste may only go to a landfill licensed to take it; putting it in a household rubbish bin can bring a fine.

The agency says that even for an owner who follows every safety step, it is far safer and easier to hand the work to a licensed asbestos removalist, whose training, insurance and equipment are there to keep exposure as low as possible. It explains that asbestos is a danger to health when fibres escape into the air and someone breathes them in; lodged in the lungs, they can cause life-threatening illness, among them mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer. Safe Work Australia’s model code for managing asbestos at work says asbestos waste is to be moved and disposed of as the EPA of the relevant state or territory requires, only at a site that EPA has licensed, and never through the general waste system.

The agency says that in every state it is illegal to aim compressed air or a high-pressure water spray at asbestos materials. Its guidance for householders adds that high-pressure water, scrubbing, sanding and any other abrasive process must never be used to clean an asbestos cement roof or other asbestos material. For homeowners in Queensland, the state’s government asbestos site says not to saw, sand or scrape asbestos materials, or drill holes in them.

Victoria’s figures

WorkSafe Victoria reports 17 fatalities in the construction industry caused by a fall from height, and 1,898 injury claims from falls from heights in construction, in its data for December 2020 to December 2024.

For roofers, it says to use the highest level of fall prevention that is reasonably practicable, such as mobile scaffolds or scissor and boom lifts instead of step platforms or ladders.

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