14.10.2005

HSE announce Ladder blitz

The Uk’s HSE haa announced a national “initiative” to promote the safe and appropriate use of ladders in an aim to reduce the high level of accidents with this form of access.

Last year 13 workers died from falls while working on a ladder, while more than 1200 suffered major injuries. In a bid to reduce this the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced a national initiative to promote the safe use of ladders.

The programme will start on November 14, and will include a week of events when HSE inspectors will work with ladder users and their employers, look at the current use of ladders and suggest sensible measures to improve safety.

Ian Greenwood, HSE Falls from Height Team Leader, said: "With a little more planning and assessment of the risks, understanding of the limitations of ladders, proper maintenance and checking that users are competent, many of these accidents could be avoided.

"A major injury, such as a broken bone or fractured skull, can often be a life changing event for the person concerned and their family. Quite apart from the personal suffering, an injury of this sort can adversely affect earning power and job prospects for a long time after the accident."

During Ladders Week (14 - 18 November) each HSE local office is
organising its own events, many in partnership with trade associations, local employers and equipment hire companies. These events include Safety and Health Awareness Days, practical demonstrations of alternative equipment to ladders and breakfast meetings with employers and health and safety professionals.

To coincide with Ladders Week, HSE will be producing free guides to help raise awareness of the risks associated with ladder use and giving advice on how to use them safely.

Further information to help people who work at height, employers, and others with responsibilities under the law, is available free on the HSE website at:www.hse.gov.uk/falls/.
The website includes a number of "from experience" case studies of falls from ladders, together with advice on the precautions that should be taken to prevent such accidents.

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 came into force in April this year. The Regulations introduce a hierarchy for use when planning and risk assessing work at height. Duty holders must consider how to avoid work at height. If this is not possible, they should take steps to prevent a fall occurring. Where they cannot eliminate the risk, they should take steps to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall.

As part of this mandate, a ladder should only be used where a risk assessment demonstrates that the task is low risk and of short duration, or where there are existing features on site that cannot be altered and the use of other equipment is not practical. Such features include restricted space preventing other equipment from being put in place correctly or ground conditions that mean that there is no suitable area to set up alternative equipment.