Welcome back to our ladder safety checklist to keep you safe over this year's May bank holidays.  In part one, we covered the basic safety checks you need to run through before using a ladder, and now we'll discuss what to look out for while you are using the ladder.   Ensure that the ladder is set up correctly.  For step ladders this means checking the brace or locking mechanism, to be sure that the ladder will not fold up or collapse during use.  For extension ladders this means checking the locking mechanism to be certain that the ladder won't slide back down when you climb it, and that you are [...]

The May bank holidays are traditionally a chance to get some spring cleaning done inside and out, getting your home and garden ready for a summer of barbecues, house guests and jollity.  With two bank holidays in the same month there is a great opportunity to start a lengthy job like redecorating an entire room or tiling a bathroom where the prep work takes almost as long as the job itself.  For all these jobs and more a ladder is a vital piece of equipment, so it's important you check it over for safety's sake before using it, or your long weekend might be ruined.   This ladder safety checklist is [...]

You might have started thinking about your yearly deep clean already, and those of you who are eager beavers might have even got a list drawn up (we mentioned how you can get ahead of the game in a previous article, so kudos to you if you've got an action plan already).  The annual retrieval and stowing away of the Christmas decorations in the loft might have played a part in your spring clean planning, because like most people, you'll have rooted through a few boxes before finding the right ones.  In the process you will probably have found things you'd forgotten you even had, old school projects, bits of furniture [...]

We love a feel-good story about animals and ladders, and whether that's cats being made bespoke ladders to give them outdoor access from upper floors, or cute bear cubs being rescued from bins, we can't deny it warms the heart to see the humble ladder used to protect, rescue and improve the chances of wildlife around the world.   Fish ladders are a great example of how human activity has interrupted the ability of animals to return to their natural breeding grounds, and now all dams, weirs and other water obstructions are built with an integral fish ladder which allows native species to continue to thrive.  There have been some great [...]

It never ceases to amaze us how people find weird and wonderful ways to use ladders unconventionally, and the sporting world certainly provides some out-there examples.  In a previous article we brought you a viral craze where people challenged each other to climb up a freestanding ladder.  This is obviously not a safe thing to do – ladders should always be firmly supported and secured so they don't tip or wobble, but for daredevils like parkour specialist Ole Morland Johnsen that takes all the fun out of it.    Not content with merely climbing the freestanding ladder and seeing how far he could make it before falling, Johnsen made it nearly [...]

  With spring in the air there's no time like the present to make a plan for your spring clean and maintenance tasks to ensure you don't miss anything.  For most spring cleaning tasks you need a ladder, whether that's a step ladder for dusting on top of cupboards, an extension ladder for clearing your guttering or a tripod ladder to thin out the crown of a tree.    It makes sense then that your first task is to check over all of your ladders, to make sure they're fit for purpose and won't cause an accident.  For ladders with moving parts, like extension and step ladders, check that they move [...]

With spring in the air there's no time like the present to make a plan for your spring clean and maintenance tasks to ensure you don't miss anything.  For most spring cleaning tasks you need a ladder, whether that's a step ladder for dusting on top of cupboards, an extension ladder for clearing your guttering or a tripod ladder to thin out the crown of a tree.    It makes sense then that your first task is to check over all of your ladders, to make sure they're fit for purpose and won't cause an accident.  For ladders with moving parts, like extension and step ladders, check that they move freely [...]

Our favourite travelling artist Charlie Brouwer is renowned for his huge sculptures made entirely from donated ladders given by the local community.  His temporary installations are designed to bring the community together in a single endeavour and to represent the way in which people support each other.  His ladder sculptures may have some competition in the Giant's Ladder, or Stairway to Heaven thought to have been created by artist Henry Bruce.   The enormous wooden ladder stood, until very recently, in the same spot as Bruce's The Giant's Chair, which was in place on Dartmoor for four years.  It was destroyed in the recent high winds and only a few people [...]

The biggest no-no for working with stepladders is to use them in the closed position as a leaning ladder.  Stepladders aren't designed for this purpose, but people often take the risk and use their stepladders as a straight ladder when they need to get closer to the wall, and don't want to fetch the right ladder, or don't have one.  The risk of doing this is that the ladder feet are designed to lay flat when the ladder is open, so when the ladder is closed the feet do not form a safe connection with the ground.  This leads to the ladder slipping out from under the user, as well as [...]

We always prioritise safety over anything else – there are few tasks that can't wait for a better day or the right ladder.  However, there will always be people who take a risk for the sake of getting the job done, and they don't care if they're risking life and limb to do so – perhaps the call of an early finish and the pub is too strong for some to resist?  Here are some of the riskiest ladder users we heard about in 2019.   Firstly, an example of ladder transport which has been decried so often in the media we can't believe we even have another example to report.  [...]