Hi, I'm just doing some research on climbing fixed/vertical ladders and using harnesses and fall-arest systems. I came across this post (in 2013) below from the member Evans38004 on the subject, I could not reply directly to it, probably because I'm a guest and not a full member. I came across this useful article here http://www.healthandsafe...s-safe-use-fixed-ladders Although it was published in 2008, it contains useful information. Especially the part about using the ladder rungs as anchor points to stop a fall. 'Alternatively you could give workers a Y-shaped, twin-tail, fall-arrest lanyard and tell them to clip to the rungs as they climb, but that's not an option on ladders with alloy rungs where the strength is insufficient (a lanyard can apply over half a tonne during a fall, so anything they're clipped to must be able to support 1200kg).' Regards - Dave http://forum.iosh.co.uk/?g=posts&t=109162 Climbing verital ladders and using harnesses Evans38004 #1 Posted : 15 May 2013 10:13:47 Rank: Forum user Groups: IOSH member , North Wales We have a number of fixed vertical ladders around our workplace ranging from 3m to 20m in height. Above 2.5m there are hooped cages (right term?!?!) The company had adopted a policy, before I arrived, that whenever you climb these ladders, you must wear a body harness & short fixed lanyard - which you clip onto every rung as you climb a rung. Does anyone know where this "best practice" has come from? - the guys tell me that this is the policy & this is how they were trained. Most see it as an overkill & delaying procedure.

Have you found the HSE Research Report - "RR657 - Investigation into the fall-arresting effectiveness of ladder safety hoops, when used in conjunction with various fall-arrest systems" ? [ http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr657.htm ] and the Safety Bulletin they subsequently issued? [http://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/hoopedladders.htm] Basically they advise against using hooped ladders if using fall arrest as they can increase injury.