News of lorry parks being built to cope with the delays across the channel will be worrying to any business that relies on stock being delivered via the EU and from further afield.  With storage space at a premium and a severe lack of warehouse space, it is tempting for small and medium sized business owners to keep a higher volume of stock on their premises, (when it is available) to see them through periods where there might be supply chain issues.   Often, the best way of maximising stockroom space is to keep building upwards and make the most of the space between the top of the shelves and the [...]

Parents have had a tough year through 2020, with kids at home for far more of the year than we are used to.  Keeping them entertained and up to date on schoolwork has been a real challenge, and despite schools remaining open during the second lockdown parents are still facing the prospect of entertaining children at the weekends and over periods of self-isolation without the usual go-to venues available.   Luckily, there are some easy and fun ladder based activities you can do which will keep the kids happy and get them moving and interacting with the whole family, starting with this cross between hopscotch and Twister.  This ladder game involves [...]

Firefighters use ladders on a regular basis to rescue people from buildings, as well as to rescue people from situations where they are below ground level – the aerial ladder mounted to most fire engines can be lowered below ground level in situations where someone has become trapped in a hole, down a river bank or even down a cliff.  They also use standalone ground ladders to reach people in buildings where the fire engine cannot reach with the mounted ladder.   When setting up a ground ladder for a rescue, firefighters first place the ladder next to the window, or aperture, they're aiming for in order to gauge how many [...]

Every home needs a stepladder.  They're versatile, useful and easy to store for quick access when they're needed.  Whether you're changing a light bulb, hanging curtains or sorting through high up cupboards, a stepladder is the homeowner's best friend.  So with that in mind here's our top pick of our stepladders for different purposes.   For a useful, handy set of kitchen steps you can't beat the three tread step stool from Drabest.  These sturdy steps have deep treads for easy, comfortable use, and a tall handle for added stability.  They're only 150cm tall when closed, enabling them to be slipped between units or next to white goods, and they can [...]

Zarges, industry leaders in telescopic ladders and height access equipment, have brought out the Teletower, a telescopic scaffold tower than can be erected in 3 minutes by just one person.  This is a major development in the building, decorating and gardening industries as it broadens the scope of jobs a sole trader can take on, without having to pay a temporary labourer for the day to help erect a scaffold tower.  The Zarges Teletower is cost effective as the cost of hiring scaffolding, plus someone to erect and dismantle it, adds up pretty quickly.    With toe boards included, wide, height adjustable legs that have lockable castors for easy movement and [...]

One of the more unusual crime stories of the year is the retrieval of over 200 rare books, stolen from a warehouse in London and found buried beneath a house in the Romanian countryside.  The books, which include priceless first editions and antiquarian books including works by Nicolaus Copernicus, were stolen in 2017, in an audacious heist which involved criminal’s abseiling into the secure warehouse via the roof.    The crime was committed by part of an organised gang of thieves who travel to the UK with the sole purpose of burgling commercial properties, usually stealing electrical goods that can be easily sold on.  The trend for criminals to travel to [...]

Every industry has been negatively affected this year and while construction work was one of the first things to be permitted after lockdown; it has been a struggle to catch up with the workload and deal with clients who may have postponed their work due to money problems.  This means that builders and other related trades may be working much harder this autumn and winter to complete jobs and keep the cash flowing, so naturally there may be occasions when ladder use is less safe than it could be.   Using ladders on wet ground, and in the cold or rain, is more dangerous than when the weather conditions are optimal. [...]

We know that New Zealand has some of the strictest quarantine regulations of all when it comes to Covid-19; anyone arriving in the country must quarantine at a designated quarantine facility for 14 days and produce repeated negative test results before they can leave.  This approach does seem to be working; the country has had very few cases and deaths since March as a result of this stringent approach to security.   One man, deported from Australia back to New Zealand, decided he didn't want to quarantine for the full 14 days and absconded on the 12th day of his isolation.  The man in question had produced negative results on all [...]

The UK produces over 280,000 tonnes of apples, pears, plums and cherries each year and the bulk of these fruits must be harvested by hand, by skilled workers using ladders and other access methods.  To the casual observer it may seem like picking apples off a tree does not require much thought or skill, but in order to get the fruit at its best it takes years of experience and training to know when an apple is ripe for the picking, or whether it would benefit from longer on the tree.  Similarly, the skills needed to use the equipment, including orchard ladders, is considerable.  Balancing on a three-legged ladder leaning against [...]