At incidents that involve working at height there may be instances where the incident commander cannot observe all areas of the incident and may not initially have enough information to maintain situational awareness. It is essential for the incident commander to gather this information, so they can understand and interpret the situation and anticipate what is likely to happen next.
Specifically, for incidents involving work at height, additional sources for information gathering should be considered, including:
- Information gathered by personnel at the scene of operations
- Information gathered by personnel remote from the scene of operations, such as in adjacent buildings or structures
In some circumstances, the outcome of a risk assessment may be to adopt defensive tactics until advice or assistance can be obtained from an appropriate tactical adviser or specialist rescue team. Refer to Specialist resources: Work at height.
Personnel should not be deployed if they have medical conditions or are taking medication that could adversely affect them working at height. Personnel working at height should be monitored for any physical impacts that are a result of this activity.