Posted By garyh I used to manage a scaffold company. I have seen people use the rungs or the sides to get hand holds; we always removed the plastic coatings. For one thing the plastic eventually cracks and falls off; it then looks scruffy and poses a fire risk (we were scaffolding in a molten metal environment). It sounds like they want to keep the ladders clean! I would say, remove the covering. You could always ask the ladder supplier / manufacturer's opinion. Bear in mind also that most scaffolds are put up BY scaffolders for OTHERS to gain access. These people may use the rungs or the sides of the ladder.

Posted By Doug Kelly From a company induction on a chemical site many moons ago, the safety manager (a truly inspirational guy as I remember) indicated the ladder stiles were to be used as hand-holds because you could not know what contamination had been introduced to the rungs from footwear. Made sense to me then, and still does. I would suggest the plastic should be removed unless given justification to the contrary.

Posted By Robert K Lewis Ron Except if you are a firefighter - watch them!! Bob

Posted By garyh HSE publication INDG 402 safe use of ladders shows a guy on the front page climbing a ladder with his hands on the stiles. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg402.pdf

Posted By Ron Hunter I now have an amusing image of you guys climbing a flight of stairs. Then again, I am easily amused!

Posted By Martyn Hendrie I would agree with Ken and certainly I hold the stiles when climbing a ladder (except on vertical ladders where more use of the arms is required) I can't say I have studied how others on site climb ladders but think most people do the same as I do. I will now look in future. Ladders should be structurally sound and in good condition so I don't give much credence to the "safer if the rung breaks" theory. Whatever "floats your boat"

Posted By TBC Oh on the subject of the plastic covering get it off! It's not a new car or sofa that some keep the plastic on to protect it longer - that's from a bygone age. It's there to do a job of work not retain a resale value.

Posted By Alan Woodage I agree with all the points for all the reason but one I cannot see is; when ascending or descending scaffold ladders, there is always the potential for another to step on your hands if they are above you and descending etc. I can hear you all scream more than one person on a ladder, be real it happens every day on every construction site. For this reason the stiles have always been my proffered, and try losing your footing holding onto a rung I don't believe the majority of people would be able to hold on, not only due to strength but also to reaction and panic / confusion causing the body to involuntarily reach up for a handhold.

Posted By Crim I was taught to climb ladders as a young firefighter in Liverpool. Same hand same foot for balance and - yes hands hold the rounds (rungs). We used to use hook ladders that just had a long hook at the top, we hooked this over the window cill and had to rely on our balance to ensure the ladder didn't swing to the side so we didn't fall off. On reaching the top of the hook ladder we climbed into the window and placed the hook over the cill at the next level. Then we had to slide out of the window, onto the bottom of the ladder, using our backside for balance, and climb up to the next level. Exciting stuff! Sadly health and safety meant the hook ladder was withdrawn from service in spite of the many lives saved from rescues made using this type of ladder. No problem with dirty hands/rounds if you wear gloves.