23.04.2009

Ladder association complains

The UK’s Ladder Association has issued an open letter objecting to the content of a BBC TV programme in the UK this week.

The statement is as follows:

May contain nuts
BBC panorama programme broadcast monday, 20 April 2009

statement by the ladder association

It is perhaps not surprising that a programme titled May Contain Nuts would take a cynical view of health and safety in the UK today. This despite the fact that 12 people were killed in ladder-related incidents last year and the lives of their families and friends changed forever.

The training course featured was not a Ladder Association training course, but despite that fact, the way it was portrayed shows how easily programme makers can manipulate words and pictures to suit their agenda.

The Ladder Association has long advocated the need for professional training and continues to do so. A contractor using a different piece of equipment, for example a cherry picker or mobile access tower, would naturally look to train his staff, so what is different about ladders?

As chairman of the Ladder Association, Don Aers, regularly comments: “We all think we can use one, but it is surprising the number of people who have been using ladders, including the hardened 20-year user, who come away from a Ladder Association training course having learned something new. Knowledge or information that may prevent injury or worse in the future.”

The message from the Association remains clear - if it’s right to use a ladder, use the right ladder and get trained to use it safely.

The HSE’s ongoing ‘Shattered Lives’ campaign highlights the consequences of a fall from height. More attention to that might have produced a more aptly named Panorama: May Save Lives!