Tights -The One Place You Don’t Want A Ladder
With winter upon us many women are reverting to wearing tights with their favourite skirts or dresses, but with tights come the old problem of ladders. Tights ladder when they get caught on something like a rough table leg, a zip or even a chipped nail and unfortunately, many pairs of tights never make it past one day of wearing, ultimately ending up in landfill. This is an environmental concern because tights tend to be made from nylon and other materials derived from petrochemicals. They won't degrade in a landfill for thousands of years, meaning that many pairs of tights are effectively a single-use plastic. Now, hosiery brand Hēdoïne has created [...]
Telescopic Ladder Safety Tips
Telescopic ladders are the most significant technological development the industry has seen for a long time. Designed to be small enough to transport in a normal car, or to be stored under a bed or in a cupboard; these space saving ladders are ideal for campervan and caravan owners and tiny homes, as well as being incredibly useful in a wide range of other locations – wherever a ladder is needed. Surveyors have adopted these ladders for their professional work, as they can access almost anywhere they need to with a telescopic ladder – there are no telescopic roof ladders yet, but a telescopic extension ladder will provide all the height [...]
Why American Fire Departments Are Called Ladders
The 20th anniversary of the Twin Towers attacks passed recently, and two decades on the trauma of losing loved ones in the worst terror attack ever has barely diminished. Although time can help with grief, the attention that is on the survivors and the families of those who died must be hard to bear when this tragedy is once again in the forefront of our minds. One thing we noticed was that fire department teams who were involved in the rescue efforts are often referred to as belonging to “ladder companies”, so we did a little digging to find out why this is. In the USA, a fire department [...]
Award Winning Stylish Single-Step Ladder
Here at Midland Ladders our main business is providing a range of specialised and general use ladders to the trade, professional users and serious DIYers. We also stock a range of smaller ladders for domestic use – for those jobs that need a bit of extra height but for which a huge ladder isn't needed. When it comes to step stools for the home, you're spoilt for choice when you look at the wider market, which is why we tend to stock models from the same manufacturers that make the sturdy equipment found in factories and on building sites – we think safety and function is a more important consideration than [...]
Werner Makes Short Work Of Tall Jobs
Lone working is sometimes unavoidable, and while it's always better to have another pair of hands on the job to help with carrying and setting up equipment, there are times when it's just you and your ladder. Professional ladder users will be acutely aware of the proper safety precautions to take when setting up and using a ladder, especially if they're alone without someone to call for help if they have an accident. These users are also very mindful of the injuries and muscle strains that can arise before you've even set one foot on the rungs. Tall, heavy extension ladders can cause muscle and soft tissue injuries from simply [...]
Before You Put Your Ladder Away…
With summer over and the nights starting to draw in again many of us will be putting our domestic ladders away for the winter. Whether that's a garden ladder, a step ladder for outside jobs or an extension ladder for tall tasks, it's important to store our ladders properly so that they're ready for service when we need them again. You may have cleared out the gutters ahead of the autumn leaf fall; perhaps even installing a gutter hedgehog to prevent guttering getting blocked up, and this is a job that can be quite mucky. After a dirty job like this it's important to clean your ladder thoroughly, because if [...]
The Aftermath Of Ladder Accidents
Accidents involving ladders are quite commonplace, more so in the domestic and DIY arena than the professional one, although it seems that no amount of training will stop some people misusing their height access equipment. A roofer in Kentucky fell nearly 10 feet from a ladder, landing on his head and neck in what would turn out to be a fatal accident. The man had been on site for less than an hour when the accident, which involved a co-worker, occurred. The pair had been setting up two ladders on either side of the front porch of the property to take measurements. As the man descended the second ladder, having [...]
Developers To Pay For High-Rise Aerial Ladder
A fire at the New Providence Wharf tower block on the 7th of May this year could have been a disaster. Not only does the building have the same cladding as Grenfell Tower, the balconies are made of wood and the ventilation system was faulty, leading to a broken chimney-like effect as the fire climbed up balconies from the 8th to 11th floor, and smoke poured through the central stairwell from a flat door which was left propped open. A perfect storm of circumstance, faulty systems and a lack of appropriate equipment at nearby fire stations led to this event, but it could have been a lot worse. There are [...]
Combination Or Multi-Purpose Ladder?
On paper, a combination ladder and a multi-purpose ladder seem to be saying the same thing – that you can use these ladders in multiple positions. On the face of it, that is the case and in fact both types of ladder can be used as a stepladder (including on the stairs) or as a straight extension ladder. It is when we look at the other uses of each type of ladder, and what they are most suited to that it becomes a little more nuanced. A multi-purpose ladder typically has three hinges along the length of the ladder. These hinges allow the ladder to be folded at the central [...]
Avoid These Common DIY Mistakes
The DIY (home and garden) industry in the UK is worth nearly £7 billion, with many homeowners cutting the cost of home improvements by doing the work themselves. Over the 2020 lockdowns, DIY became a really popular pastime, especially for people who had planned contractors to work on their home but then had to cancel their plans because of the restrictions. Happily, most DIY projects happen without accident or injury, but over 200,000 people a year require hospital treatment for injuries sustained while carrying out DIY projects. Around 70 people a year are killed in DIY related accidents, with ladders being the main cause of these fatalities. It's impossible to [...]
