Did anyone catch the article in the Daily Star Newspaper Yesterday regarding the non use of ladders which has cost a local authority thousands of pounds because they now use scaffolding to change light bulbs because the H&S Executive has said you cannot use ladders anymore. We all know that this statement is not true however stories like this give us a bad name

I wouldn't be so sure that the statement is untrue..................

I read this in a different paper, and they were quite clear that the council invoved is using a contractor to change light bulbs, and it is the contractor's policy to use a scaff tower instead of ladders. Perhaps the fault lies with the contractor's H & S advisor?

The Daily Express ran a story as Paul describes it. Seems to me that the council procurement department should be checking their policy if they can justify a contractor increase from £0.4M to £1.4M a year.
I think it was Nottingham. Perhaps colleagues based in that area would like to ask their MP to dig out the facts under the Freedom of Information Act?

Take Care

More and more companies are banning the use of ladders. I delivered a PASMA course today and two different delegates said ladders had been banned. I had to inform them they had not been totally banned outright and showed them paperwork displaying the 'Myth of the month' but they were obviously working on a site where the main contractor had taken the decision to ban them on their sites.

Many large organisations in construction banned ladders and step ladders as a result of the introduction of the WAH Regs in 2005. It could be argued that 'best practice' is to not use ladders, or at least, to use them sparingly and for only short duration work. On the HSE website there is guidance for ladders and step ladders, which also includes a definition of short duration work - up to 30 minutes. Not my definition of short duration work - but there you have it.

Tragic though it is, the case which Martin has illustrated is the extreme end of a very thin and long wedge. Can't comment on all the facts, but following a serious accident there is always an opportunity for the authorities to find some fault. The real problem is that too many prosecutions often leave doubt in the minds of those responsible for health and safety. The authorities are very good at applying the hindsight factor. However, this in turn leads to creeping risk averseness, where people are not prepared to be held responsible if an accident should occur and therefore they adopt a defensive position - like banning ladders.

The ladder issue is an embarrassment

Someone somewhere decided that the use of stepladders was dangerous and as a result stepladders were banned from UK construction sites but the sale of stepladders in the UK is allowed.

If the construction industry feels that the stepladder is unsafe by design then they should share their knowledge and save the rest of the world.

The ban of stepladders was a mere box ticking exercise within the construction industry and the banning of stepladders cost the industry millions to replace with what?

Podiums? One man platforms for the feel safe factor but try putting it in your shoulder and carrying it from floor to floor or using it in a toilet cubicle. Great when you are on top of it but getting it from A to B single handed makes a one man job two handed and I can understand the millions added to local council contracts.

Aluminium towers? What can I say? Great towers and excellent working platforms but 4 times too big when I want to climb 30 inches but they do have PASMA when ladders never thought LASMA.

So bottom line ….. step ladders are banned because there is no recognised training programme to train the average worker or the average employer in how to use them correctly and most importantly how not to miss use them.

Sorry Frank,

Maybe not a blanket ban but there is a ban and a ban from the big boys that has rippled down the line. I struggle to think of any of the top ten or twenty construction companies that allow the use of stepladders perhaps you could name a few?

Mick

Can't speak for Ireland, but in the UK a written RA for a ladder is normally generic and would cover multiple-use. The same also applies for many other tools and equipment. Surely, it is not reasonable to expect someone to do a formal RA every time the equipment is used? Ye Gods, you would never get anything done!

Ray

Aha, the wording in my post is a 'written' or 'formal' RA, one can do am assessment each and very time it is used simply by a visual inspection of the ladder - job done. Sorry, but a poor interpretation of the guidance and regs in my opinion.

Interpretation of the Law is exactly what this is about. My own opinion is that the 'ban' is a knee-jerk reaction, but it's having a real effect regarding the use of ladders in the ROI and, from the annecdotal evidence in the posts above, the UK.

We all interpret the law, we make judgement calls, and until case-law shows us where the line is between right and wrong some will use that to 'ban' ladder use.

Ciaran

I am not suggesting you do not have a written RA, but surely, you are not expected to write another each and every time you use the ladder. One RA to include a visual inspection each time you use it, which in the course of a day's work could be dozens of times. Don't tell me dear old common sense has become extinct over in the Emerald Isles?

Ray