The UK Ladder Association issues the "Ladder Card"

The Ladder Association is a modern, forward-looking organisation with 55 member companies. Committed to progressing safety and best practice step-by-step, the association is adapting to the challenges facing the industry by positioning itself as the clear and acknowledged focus for ladders and stepladders in the marketplace. It is a major contributor to UK and European standards setting, works closely with the HSE and is the UK’s leading provider of ladder training.

The Ladder Association is the only trade body dedicated to providing ladder users with the information and skills they need to use ladders and stepladders safely and productively. Working in collaboration with manufacturers, policy makers and key influencers, including the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), it uses the collective experience and expertise of its many members to fulfil a number of distinct roles.

With its new name, re-styled logo and revised constitution, the Ladder Association, formerly the British Ladder Manufacturers' Association (BLMA), aims to set a new agenda for the ladder industry in the UK. The Ladder Association is the voice of the industry and its message is clear and precisely the same as the HSE….. Ladders are not banned in the workplace, so if it's right to use a ladder, use the right ladder and use it safely.

Be ladder competent...get a LadderCard. Demonstration of competence is key, which is why the association operates a national training scheme for users, supervisors and managers wanting to equip themselves with the knowledge, skills and confidence necessary to use ladders safely and productively. Completion of a Ladder Association training course provides the proof of competence demanded by the Work at Height Regulations. Courses are delivered only by association approved training centres. The Ladder Association training course ensures that delegates have an understanding of the legislation and regulations affecting work at height, product standards and classifications for ladders and stepladders, and hazards affecting the use of ladders and stepladders. With the introduction of the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 in January 2009, and the widely publicised court case in which a school caretaker successfully sued his local authority employer for lack of formal ladder training, the imperative for professional training has never been greater. Newsletter here.