Posted By Elliot Morton Hi Everyone I have been told that we cannot use wooden ladders any more (general use and construction) and must use Aluminium ladders. Is this correct? Thanks in advance for your advice regards Elliot

Posted By Alex.wilkes Elliot have you been given specific reasons why they should not be used? From my personnal experience wooden ladders are used but the rungs are always protected underneath with a metal rod as back up should the wooden rungs snap or damage. Never heard of any legislation for this though.

Posted By Dave Merchant Sorry MT but whoever told you that was plain wrong - there is no evidence that wooden ladders are statistically any more likely to fail inspection than metal ones, and they remain in very widespread, safe, acceptable use. Yes they can suffer damage, but so can metal and GRP ladders (indeed some of the most common faults we see can _only_ occur on alloy ladders). INDG402 doesn't even use the word "wood", and the HSE official training pack for LA inspectors ( http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/downloads/6.pdf ) says nothing about preferring a certain material - the only place in nearly 100 pages where it mentions wood is when talking about electrical conductivity.

Posted By TT Methinks that the advice given would have been concerning the cheapo wooden stepladders etc. that are intended for occasional domestic use but are then taken into a commercial or even industrial environment. Often in a small business environment. Even then though, a suitable inspection regime could be put in place to ensure regular replacement.....and so the argument goes on! Agree with 'fit for use' comments above whether wood or aluminium. TT

Posted By Dave Merchant Tabs - that only shows your training and inspection systems were inadequate, not that there was anything fundamentally inferior about tree-based access equipment. Remember, wood has been around for a whole lot longer than aluminium, and we've done OK as a species despite that fact. I regularly climb hundreds of feet of wooden ladders that have been underground for a century or more, and I'm still here. There's no way I'd risk a similar vintage metal ladder without a rope and a bottle of vodka. To me, this week, pencils are more dangerous than chainsaws - as I stabbed my finger with one, but not the other. It simply proves that you can't forget you put a chainsaw in your pocket.

Posted By Simon Heesom Elliot Hi, The banning of wooden ladders may just be corporate / client policy, as everyone else has said, nothing wrong with wooden ladders, generally. however 'most' Water Utility companies won't allow them as wood can soak up sewage (bacteria) which is then potentially transferable to clean water sites etc (its your drinking water). the key for control is: good policies, risk assessment, training & supervision, and compliance with the hierarchy of controls for WAH. Cheers Simon

Posted By Kenneth Patrick "Wooden ones are far more likely to have faults which are less easy to pick up easily, they're often covered in paint" Does wood attract paint more than aluminium?

Posted By MT Dave, I repeat that I was given that information at an HSE training event for both HSE inspectors and LA officers. We were shown photographs of defects to look for in ladders, many of which showed wooden ladders and the type of faults which are common in them. If you like I could look at my training notes and find out the presenter of the training course, should you wish to contact them. I am well aware of the Topic Inspection pack, being an enforcement officer, and in fact it was discussed at the training course I mentioned. I didn't say that wooden ladders couldn't be used. Obviously, as Samm has noted, electricians would rightly prefer wooden ladders. Yes, TBC, I was thinking of spillages, but I've seen plenty which have been painted over completely, thus hiding faults. Jeez, I pass on the advice given to me as an inspector, by the HSE, and then spend half an hour defending the fact that this is the information I was given by an HSE inspector. Is it any wonder people get fed up responding on this forum?

Posted By A Campbell Not that long ago I worked for a FM company where the HSE manager allowed use of aluminium ladders for electrical work... with the provision that the rubber feet were intact! I had to privately ask the engineers to use wooden or fibreglass wherever they could. Single HSE inspector advising.... or was that enforcing the non use of wooden ladders? I can see headlines as when the WAH regs were being introduced ladders banned!.. 'HSE bans wooden ladders'

Posted By Alan Haynes Dear MT, I think that the significant shift in your postings is summed up by the use of 'where appropriate' in your final posting Now that's something I could agree with [mind you - define 'where appropriate']