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Ladders And The Law

CNS-southwest

Well-known member
Messages
3,708
Hi Guys,

Just wanted to check, the legislation on ladders.

i have found this on hse website:

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When can ladders be used?

Ladders can be used if after assessing the risks the use of more suitable work equipment is not justified because of the low risk and short duration.

Short duration is taken to be between 15 and 30 minutes depending upon the task.

Ladders can also be used for low risk work where there are features on the site that mean a ladder must be used.

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does this mean that each job should take no longer than 30 minutes, or each window? or only 30minutes of every hour etc?

I was planning on using ladders so want to make sure i get it all right!

 
ladders are fine to use when used safely.

they say 30 minutes at one time max. but there are a lot of trades that use this over this amount of time.

you will be fine to use ladders all day for window cleaning

 
They only disadvantage I have is my weight lol. It's more than 15st but less than 20st ( part of the reason I want to do this, get a bit more in shape lol )

 
as long as the ladders your using are rated for your weight you will be fine, and the 15-30 min part is per window, or per ladder set up/climb

 
They only disadvantage I have is my weight lol. It's more than 15st but less than 20st ( part of the reason I want to do this, get a bit more in shape lol )
dont worry most trade ladders are rated upto 175kg (27 stone) after carrying ladders about you will soon get into shape! lol

 
dont worry youl bonce no probs ,wot ther missing is for every job you shud have reisk asement and use ladder safty eqipment ,that wyy youl not beaberden to tax payers cos ul be safe ,best goWFP

 
I don't have the money for that.

We have someone that does our windows at work with a water feed pole and a canister plugged into the hose, honestly it's utter **** on our windows lol

 
I was going to get ladder mats and ladder mits. And do a risk assessment on each property ( do I need to do another risk assessment each time I do that 1 particular property)?

 
I don't have the money for that.

We have someone that does our windows at work with a water feed pole and a canister plugged into the hose, honestly it's utter **** on our windows lol
its not the system its the user of it! bad results from wfp only means the user just dont know how to use the system or look after it.

 
I was going to get ladder mats and ladder mits. And do a risk assessment on each property ( do I need to do another risk assessment each time I do that 1 particular property)?
only one for each property, then that one will last a year, then you can review it and if nothing has changed then keep it the same!

 
Check out the HSE website for guidelines on using ladders, my understanding from reading some of their stuff is that you can only use a ladder up to about 22ft (or something like that). Plenty of safety equipment about.

My understanding was that one blanket R/A was sufficient for domestic but seperate ones are required for commercial.

 
COS THARS SUCH A BIG RISK OF INGERY AND DEATH ,AND IF WOR HONEST MOST OF US KOWE OF SUM ONE WHOS BIN INGERD OR DIYED .THERS ONE ON HEAR WHO NOT HEARD OR KOW OF INGERY IN 25 YEARS ALL U CAN SAY IS THAT CARN BE TRUE

 
Ref risk assessment. Am I correct in thinking that a r/a doesn't have to be a written report but can be a quick visual check of dangers and should be done each time you set up?

 
Ref risk assessment. Am I correct in thinking that a r/a doesn't have to be a written report but can be a quick visual check of dangers and should be done each time you set up?
depends, if something happens to go wrong, like a fall off ladder or something like that, you need to prove that a risk assesment has been done, the only way to do that is to write it down. to be fair if you type it on the pc you can use that one for most houses as they are pritty much the same,

 
COS THARS SUCH A BIG RISK OF INGERY AND DEATH ,AND IF WOR HONEST MOST OF US KOWE OF SUM ONE WHOS BIN INGERD OR DIYED .THERS ONE ON HEAR WHO NOT HEARD OR KOW OF INGERY IN 25 YEARS ALL U CAN SAY IS THAT CARN BE TRUE
I've heard of people having accidents in cars trains planes crossing the road motorbikes. The list goes on. Football cricket rugby. But we all do them including you. You cannot be wrapped in cotton wool mate. I hear what yer saying but accidents happen in all walks of life.

 
Traditional window cleaning working from a ladder statistically is a very dangerous occupation. You are responsible for your own safety so best to go wfp without question. With the low cost of wfp diy setups available now it's a no brainer.

 
working from a ladder statistically is a very dangerous occupation.
It's only like that because of how people miss use ladders and use them unsafely when used the right way and with respect they are safe to use all the time

 
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