12.11.2012

Fatal ladder fall in Arnhem

A window cleaner died earlier today after falling during a ladder training session in Arnhem, the Netherlands.

Local reports state that the man fell 20 metres, although not explaining how he was able to fall so far while on a training course with a regular ladder leant against a wall?

The use of long ladders for most work at height jobs has been effectively outlawed in the Netherlands for many years. So this is likely to have been a shorter ladder in an exposed place or this aspect of the report is just incorrect.

UPDATE

We now know that this tragic incident occured at a large training centre for the cleaning industry, the man was training on a steel 'hanging ladder' using a harness as is the correct procedure for this type of device.

Somehow his harness failed and he did indeed fall 20 metres. Hanging ladders from rails or other attachment points are permitted in the Netherlands as long as they are used in conjunction with a harness and lanyard, and one assumes by a trained individual.
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Fixed ladders require some form of harness system similar to this example

The training centre - SVS - has, we understand trained over 10,000 people on this type of ladder in recent years without a single incident. The company is also a very well respected IPAF training centre. At this stage those involved are still struggling to understand what went wrong in this case.