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Posted By AJM
Can I just check from other peoples experience with regard to working from Step ladders. If you decide that step ladders are to be used through risk assessment etc, should you always have a second person holding the bottom of the ladders for all types that is leaning and step ladders.
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Posted By J Knight
Hi,
No, thatw ould have to depend on your assessment and on the reason why somebody is footing the steps. Used properly, stepladders don't need footing. Footing can be a means of stabilising a ladder, but other techniques are available. For example, we have fixed risng bolts in the walls of some of our stately homes (English Heritage actually agreed!!!) at places where occasional ladder access is the most efficient means; the ladder is tied off to the bolts and no footing is required,
John
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Posted By Pat Hannaway Hi, attached is a link to the HSE "Falls from height" presentation. It specifically deals with ladders & stepladders. http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/downloads/6.pdfShort answer to your query, no you don't need a second person when using stepladders. Pat
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Posted By Adrian Clifton
Step ladders should be used in a manner that does not require a second person. Level ground, firm ground, face the task (not side-on). If you feel that a second person is necessary, I would suggest that stepladders are not suitable.
Adrian
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Posted By Raymond Rapp
For short duration work it may be more practical to use step ladders and if there is any danger that they may become unstable it is obviously prudent to ensure they are stabilised by hand. It is not always easy or viable to assess the risks in a Risk Assessment, as the nature of the task is sometimes dynamic.
Regards
Ray
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Posted By Chris Pope
I know a lot of cleaners who are over their 40s who feel safer on step ladders if someone is holding it for them
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Posted By Adrian Watson
Dear all,
There once again seems to be a dichotomy, between is it safe or unsafe? In reality it can be both in a short space of time. For example, you may wish to use a step ladder to gain access to change a light bulb in a in a well maintained building. This may be perfectly safe to do alone if there are no other people about - however, if this is done at lunch time, during a break of at peak periods a second person is absolutely necessary!
The hazard is not the "step ladder" but "falling off the step ladder"; the risk being the likelihood that this occurs vary from time to time and place to place. In these type of circumstances a dynamic risk assessment is needed. However, the worker doing the task has to have the authority to say no it is unsafe and I need a second person to stabilise the ladder, or be able to defer the task to a safer time.
Regards Adrian Watson
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Posted By Jack
Surely Adrian, using the normal convention the hazard is working from a step ladder. The primary risk is likelyhood of harm when falling from it.
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Posted By ME
Both ladders and stepladders can be used but the official line is that footing ladders is not proved to be beneficial (through official research) and therefore the HSE does not recommend the footing of ladders as a valid form of safety precaution.
Personally I wouldn't go up a ladder without it being footed unless I was using some othere form of ladder stability device!
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Posted By Andrew Longhurst
The company I work for is about to conduct a photo shoot illustrating good and bad practice in the use of ladders for our updating of the Working Safely syllabus which we deliver as an e-learning product.
Our initial thoughts were that this would be a relatively simple exercise - ladder, secure footing, head gear & camera - easy peasy. However, on conducting a full risk assessment the scale of this 'simple' task became far greater than we had expected.
As we were keen to simulate scenes of unsafe working at height we realised that we would, of neccesity be placing an individual at potential risk. The debate about levels of protection, from harnesses to soft landing provision to isolating the area around the shoot to providing headgear for the photographer ranged far and wide until we agreed on the (many) measures we should adopt.
However, was most interesting was the part of our discussions where we debated what was enough, what was too much and when was too much too much, if ever?
H&S never fails to fascinate me, touching on the very fabric of all man's drives and complusions - all from the simple task of taking a photograph of a man up a ladder!
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Posted By Jerry Lucey
I do not believe it should be necessary to hold a step ladder or 'A' Framed ladder if they are used correctly. It is important that personnel are trained in their correct use and that they are supervised.
The following are a few pointers that may be of use;
1/ Never over-reach from a ladder.
2/ Always stand the ladder on firm/ level ground.
3/ Never stand on the top two rungs.
4/ Never straddle a step ladder.
5/ Always face towards the ladder.
6/ Avoid pedestrian thoroughfares, and where this is not possible use appropriate barriers.
This should avoid some of the causes of personnel falling or being knocked from ladders.
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Posted By ME
...and in the real world.....
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