Idiots On Ladders

It’s estimated that over two million ladders are in daily use in the UK, and with falls from height still one of the main causes of death and injury in the workplace, it’s vital that these ladders and stepladders are regularly inspected and safe to use.

Idiots on Ladders: After the huge success of last year’s contest to find the biggest idiot on a ladder – which saw thousands of people tuning into the Ladder Association’s Facebook page every week to view, vote and send in pictures of the most stupid ladder use they could find – Idiots on Ladders is back for 2013. When it comes to working at height, just as important as getting the right equipment is knowing how to use it.

The Ladder Exchange means nothing if people take their new ladders home and start balancing on them on one leg, so Idiots on Ladders is on a mission to shame the worst. Taken or found a picture of ridiculously unsafe ladder use? Just either post it on the Facebook page, send it to us on Twitter, or email michael.fern@ladderassociation.org.uk with the picture attached. The voting works just like last year – the number of ‘Likes’ each picture gets on Facebook is tallied up and the winner is announced at the end of the Ladder Exchange.

It’s estimated that over two million ladders are in daily use in the UK, and with falls from height still one of the main causes of death and injury in the workplace, it’s vital that these ladders and stepladders are regularly inspected and safe to use. The annual Ladder Exchange, now run and managed by the Ladder Association, is your opportunity to exchange any dodgy, bent and broken ladders for safe, brand new ones. Simply take your old ladders to a participating partner near you and swap them at a discount. You get a new ladder at a concessionary price and everyone stays safe. And this year you’ve got an extra month to do it in!

Now extended to 31st December 2013! It’s estimated that over two million ladders are in daily use in the UK, and with falls from height still one of the main causes of death and injury in the workplace, it’s vital that these ladders and stepladders are regularly inspected and safe to use. The annual Ladder Exchange, now run and managed by the Ladder Association, is your opportunity to exchange any dodgy, bent and broken ladders for safe, brand new ones. Simply take your old ladders to a participating partner near you and swap them at a discount. You get a new ladder at a concessionary price and everyone stays safe. And this year you’ve got an extra month to do it in! 

Click to enlarge.

Is My Ladder Dodgy? It might not always be easy to tell if your ladder is in a fit state to work with, and a ladder that worked fine before could become unsafe the next time it’s used. With that in mind, here’s a checklist approved by the Health & Safety Executive that should be carried out by the user at the beginning of the working day and after a change (like dropping the ladder or moving it from a dirty to a clean area). If you are still unsure on whether your ladder is fit for use simply take it to one of the Ladder Exchange trade-in partners and they will check it over for you.

Verdict, Ladders & Fines For UK Users

Tragic window cleaner used ‘unsafe’ ladders: An elderly window cleaner fell to his death in South Tyneside while using “unsafe” ladders. Robert Veater, 71, was working at a house in Hindmarch Drive, West Boldon, on November 8 when he slipped and fell. An inquest was told that Mr Veater suffered extensive brain and other injuries in the 12ft fall. After hearing evidence about the poor state of the ladders Mr Veater was using at the time, South Tyneside Coroner Terence Carney said: “This was sadly an accident waiting to happen.”

The hearing was told the metal ladders were hand-made in places and were not fitted with rubber feet. Mr Veater fell off the ladder while cleaning windows at the home of couple Glen Cattanach and Joanne Rowland, who came to his aid after hearing a loud crash. The couple were commended by the coroner for their actions, including putting the injured man in the recovery position and trying to clear his airway.

Pathologist Dr Nigel Cooper said death was the result of a blunt head injury, after Mr Veater slipped from the ladders and fell on to a sloping driveway. Mr Veater, of Durham Road, Sunderland, was initially taken to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary but, after he suffered respiratory arrest, the ambulance was diverted to South Tyneside District Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Det Insp Caroline Ord, who investigated the fatal fall, said: “Mr Veater worked alone and usually anchored his ladders to a vehicle, but the ladders did not stay that way. “The two-piece ladder was not the safest and not in the best of repair. “In my opinion, the ladders slipped.” Mr Carney said: “Mr Veater died as the result of a blunt head injury and that blunt head injury occurred inadvertently in a fall.” Verdict: accidental death.

Trade in your old or dodgy ladders and get a brand new shiny safe ladder in return! The Ladder Exchange is a great example of how everyone in the health and safety system can share responsibility and work together towards a common goal; namely, reducing falls from height.

10,000 Ladders and Rising !!! With immediate effect, the Ladder Association has assumed responsibility for delivering the annual Ladder Exchange. Since its launch, the initiative has been responsible for removing over 10,000 broken, bent or damaged ladders from the workplace with the message 'Don't let a dodgy ladder shatter your life'. Now in its sixth consecutive year, the Ladder Exchange, which begins on 1 September and runs until 30 November 2012, provides all businesses with the opportunity to exchange broken, bent or damaged ladders for safe, new ones at a discounted price.

Actively supported by the Ladder Association and its members who, throughout, have made a firm commitment to work in partnership with HSE and the access industry, the Exchange has also contributed to raising awareness and understanding of how to use ladders and stepladders safely. Under the scheme, suspect ladders can be exchanged, at a discount, at participating partners. The Ladder Exchange is a great example of how everyone in the health and safety system can share responsibility and work together towards a common goal; namely, reducing falls from height.

Falls from height: Despite a steady decline, falls from height remain the most common kind of workplace fatality. In 2010/11, a total of 38 workers died and 4,327 employees suffered a major injury as a result of a fall from height in the workplace, with a further 10,232 employees suffering an ‘over 3 day’ injury. Many of these incidents could have been avoided by people with the right training using the correct equipment that had been properly inspected and maintained.

*Please contact the ladder association for more information even though the time-line has passed.

Fee for Intervention (FFI) - HSE now operates a Fee for Intervention (FFI) cost recovery scheme, which came into effect on 1 October 2012. Under The Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012, those who break health and safety laws are liable for recovery of HSE’s related costs, including inspection, investigation and taking enforcement action. Download the pdf file.

Why is FFI being introduced? HSE and the government believe it is right that businesses that break health and safety laws should pay for HSE’s time in putting matters right, investigating and taking enforcement action. Before FFI was introduced, this was paid for from the public purse. FFI will also encourage businesses to comply in the first place or put matters right quickly when they don’t. It will also discourage businesses who think that they can undercut their competitors by not complying with the law and putting people at risk.

Will FFI apply to me? If you comply with the law you won’t pay a fee.
FFI only applies to work carried out by HSE’s inspectors so if your business is inspected for health and safety by another regulator, such as local authority environmental health officers, it will not apply. FFI will apply to all businesses and organisations inspected by HSE, except for:

• self-employed people who don’t put people at risk by their work; 
• those who are already paying fees to HSE for the work through other arrangements; 
• and those who deliberately work with certain biological agents.

Biggest Idiot On A Ladder Winner

And the winner is..

Biggest idiot on a ladder crowned by Ladder Association after public vote: After three months of picture submissions and voting, the Ladder Association’s Idiots on Ladders campaign has discovered the biggest “ladder idiot” in the UK. Beginning on September 1st, the Ladder Association welcomed submissions from the public of the worst uses of ladders they could find. The competition, which aimed to shame dangerous ladder users into changing their ways, then offered people the chance to vote on Facebook to decide which picture was the worst.

The clear winner, with over 30% of the vote, showed a worker reaching up to the top of a chimney with a gaping fall directly below him. Not only could the fall have killed him, but one commenter pointed out that his ladder still did not reach high enough to keep him from stretching upwards. To top the situation off, he also had a bucket wedged between the ladder and the wall it was resting against. The Ladder Association is now looking into the background of the picture in an attempt to identify the man and offer him the training he obviously needs, assuming he has survived to benefit from it.

In second place came a picture taken earlier this year, showing a gardener with one foot on the rung of his ladder and the other on a tree branch, while he brandished a chainsaw at the tree’s other branches without protective clothing or a harness. The picture originally came from a news story in the Lincolnshire Echo, which reported that he was fined a total of £6,000 for his ladder idiocy. The photo only won around 14% of the vote but took off on Facebook as it was shared and commented on by even more people than the winner.

Cameron Clow, Chairman of the Ladder Association, said: “This competition was all about raising awareness and as such it was run alongside the Ladder Exchange, which offers people and businesses the chance to trade in unsafe ladders for new, compliant ones. We wanted to show together two of the biggest dangers in the workplace – people using their ladders in an unsafe way, and people using equipment that is unfit for purpose.

“Ladders are arguably the most common type of equipment used for work at height – it is estimated that three million are in use in the UK alone. Reported ladder accidents have fallen by over 30% over the last 10 years, but more clearly needs to be done. We are pleased at the response the competition received, with people making sure to pull out their cameras whenever they saw dangerous ladder use, but it is also a worrying sign of how common this kind of unsafe activity is.”

38 pictures were submitted throughout the contest from around the globe, with one picture of a ladder perched precariously on an unsafe mobile access tower being traced back to Mexico. While it is already known that falls from height are the number one cause of death at work, the number and variety of the pictures are startling evidence that dangerous ladder use is occurring daily. With the competition now over, the completed Idiots on Ladders album can be found on the Ladder Association Facebook page here.

Some of the window cleaning entrants of "biggest idiot on a ladder"...

 

Clickable links...

Ladder Falls: Even The Most Experienced Can Fall

Window Cleaners Star In: Ladders, Tables & Death Wishes  

Is Cleaning a Window Worth Your Life?

Protect Your Brain - More Ladder Falls

DeathWish: HomeOwners Clean Their Own Windows

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.