Ladder Safety RSS Feed

We're staunch advocates for the safe use of ladders, but we also like to have a laugh at the mad things some people do with ladders, that most definitely fall into the unsafe or jaw dropping category.  The best place to go online for the daftest ladder users is Vertikal with their Death Wish series.  One of the best recent examples, which left us with our heads in our hands, was a three-ladder set up where safety had been thought about, but only for approximately ten seconds.    The ladder lunacy in question was two long, fully extended ladders that had been cable tied together to reach over 12 metres, with a third ladder used as a bulge brace – that's the ten seconds of safety consideration.  The main extension ladder looks to have around 16 rungs per section and is fully extended, mak..

Easter is the perfect time to run some ladder refresher training, because nothing motivates people quite like the promise of chocolate!  While a domestic egg hunt for kids involves hiding chocolate at the eye level of a child, running one for adults gives you a lot more leeway in terms of hiding spots, especially when you involve ladders in the search.   Setting up   The safety aspect starts when you hide the Easter eggs – it's not going to be much of a lesson if you end up in A&E before it even gets started!  Select the main ladder styles that your staff use regularly, plus a couple that might be used infrequently and therefore aren't as familiar.   An A-frame stepladder would be ideal, plus a freestanding step ladder (a combination ladder in this mode is ideal), perhaps to reach an..

Ladders are responsible for around 40% of all falls from height, with the remainder caused by falling from a roof, platform, vehicle or other structure. While the height from which a person falls makes a big difference to the severity of the injuries they sustain, and whether it is likely to be deadly or not, research has found that age is a significant contributing factor in the outcome of a fall from height. The reason height is a factor is due to the impact the body sustains (and partly the surface) when acceleration is abruptly stopped.  Since most falls in the construction industry, and in the domestic arena, are onto hard surfaces the risk of injury is great even from lesser heights (those under 6 feet).  There is also the risk of falling onto something sharp or solid that can cause ..

We recently reported on a seizure of counterfeit ladders conducted by Trading Standards officers at the Port of Felixstowe; 2,000 telescopic ladders were considered suspicious as they had a CE mark, which is not an approved standard for ladders.  The Test and Research Centre conducted tests on the ladders to assess their dimensions, build quality and load bearing ability and found that shockingly, the ladders weren't able to even complete the tests, as they were so badly made. This led to another joint project to test telescopic ladders being imported at ports, as well as those being sold in online marketplaces (often at a price too good to be true).  The venture was commissioned by Suffolk County Council, the Ladder Association and the East of England Trading Standards Association (EETSA)..

There was an article where two men fell afoul of nail guns whilst up a ladder, one accidentally firing a nail into his chest and the other firing two into his head after he fell from a ladder holding the power tool.  It doesn't take much to work out that a nail gun is intrinsically more dangerous than a ladder, but the combination of the two can be a recipe for disaster.  Whilst these are extreme examples, it highlights the dangers. These accidents aren't going to stop people using power tools up a ladder – it's a part of construction and virtually unavoidable, but there are precautions we can take when using tools, especially power tools, up a ladder.   Firstly the type of tool you use plays a huge role in how safe it is to use.  Tools with safety features (like an automatic cut off) ..

All height access equipment must conform to very stringent safety standards in order to be released to the market.  Inferior equipment causes accidents and a fall from height is often life changing, if not fatal.  The best way to be sure you're using equipment which meets these standards, is to buy known brands from a reputable supplier like us.  We like a bargain as much as the next person, but buying a ladder that's “fallen off the back of a lorry” is a false economy and an invitation for an accident to happen.   Ladders and other height access equipment have their own safety codes.  For ladders it's EN 131 and for mobile scaffold towers it's EN 1004 (other equipment has specific codes which you can find out about on the Ladder Association website), so this is the marking you're looking ..

February's storms saw wind speeds of up to 100mph in some areas, and for many people it was the worst storm since 1987.  The Met Office even issued a rare Red warning due to the extreme winds, and we all saw those videos of people being literally blown off their feet.  Several train services were suspended and people were advised not to travel except in emergencies due to the danger of falling trees and flying debris.  We hope that no-one thought they'd attempt to climb a ladder in these conditions, but you may be surprised to know that there isn't a legally set wind speed cap for safe working conditions. Rather than a legal limit there is an advised wind speed limit of 23-25mph, which is between 5 and 6 on the Beaufort scale.  We all remember that from school, but if you need a refresh..

When we think about who uses ladders daily it's quite common to overlook agricultural use.  Unless we live on or very near a farm we're unlikely to see just how much farmers and agricultural workers use ladders, but they're in use almost daily in this sector.  Whether it is assessing storm damage to a barn roof, accessing a grain silo or even performing some minor tree surgery, ladders are part and parcel of farming life.   The phrase “bought the farm” is apt here – first used in WWII by pilots from the allied forces, it refers to the dream all serving military members had, which was to return home safe and have a quiet life on a farm.  When troops did not return from missions their comrades would say they had “bought the farm” as a way of dealing with the loss, preferring to imagine tha..

Around 200 years ago a ladder would have most likely been a homemade affair, constructed reasonably well with skills passed down through generations of carpenters and skilled workers.  It was possible to purchase a ladder made by a carpenter, but for many people making their own was the only financially viable way of obtaining one.  There were no safety standards as we know them today, and certainly none of the rigorous testing that modern ladders have to undergo before they are sold.  The first step ladder was invented in 1862 by John H Basely, before then only straight ladders were available.  The extra stability afforded by the ‘A’ frame construction of the step ladder instantly improved ladder safety and may be one of the most far-reaching innovations in ladder safety ever made..

Ladders are more visible in our lives than we might notice. Of course, having read that sentence you may find yourself seeing them more clearly in your day to day life – even in places you could have sworn you had never seen them before. They are the simple solution to getting a little higher and they take up hardly any space due to their totally vertical nature. However, there are some ladders that require a little more space and some extra security. These ladders are known as caged ladders, and they are surrounded by metal bars or mesh to protect the climber from falling off – especially if it’s quite high up. Here is when a ladder needs to be caged, as well as those that are exempt. Why Cage a Ladder? As briefly mentioned before, ladder cages are there to protect you from fa..