Ladder safety devices

[Theo]

I hate ladders. I never feel they are stable enough to work on, and I'm always worried about them slipping while I'm on them. I can't station somebody to hold the ladder all day while I'm up it. I have a fairly old ('Texas Homecare' :-) regular two-section ladder, that doesn't have a wider base as some of the modern ones do.

So I've been looking at ladder safety devices, for anchoring the base when you can't just tie the ladder into a wall or similar. These seem to come in at least three flavours:

The anti-slip foot:

- some kind of rubber or spiked thing to get traction on the ground and stop it sliding flat.

Outriggers:

- widen the base set back from the ladder

Bottom stabiliser bar:

- widens the base of the ladder in the same plane

What I'm wanting to prevent is not just the ladder failing traction with the ground and slipping flat, but also slipping sideways (insufficient traction between the top of the ladder and the thing it's resting on, especially when (dis)mounting it) and twisting (one side of the ladder loses contact and it rotates on a vertical axis.

Any opinions what's a better safety device for this? I think the first two will stop it sliding horizontally, but how about sideways or twisting? Are there other kinds of safety devices worth having? Or should I use multiple?

(I'd be up for replacing the ladders if that's advantageous, but not seeing anything particularly novel on new ladders)

Thanks Theo

[alan_m]

A couple of 25kg bags of sharp sand at the base of the ladder.

[Colin Bignell]

The first thing is to check the grade of the ladder. Most of those sold by the sheds are domestic grade, with a 95kg duty rating. That is the lowest grade, suitable only for occasional use, with commercial (115kg) and industrial (130kg) each feeling noticeably more stable when you use them. For serious DIY, commercial grade should be the minimum. I use industrial grade, which feels as solid as a rock.

My ladder has a curved bar at the base. That not only gives a much wider base, it can also be adjusted to allow for a small amount of sideways slope, as well as having non-slip feet that lie flat on the ground.

[Brian]

Our first house was a three storey town house and I needed a long ladder to reach the soffits etc. The garden was lower at the back, adding to the problem. The last thing I wanted was the ladder slipping. I used some Rawl eye bolts in a few places and lash the ladders where they over lapped. I then tied the ladders to the eye bolts. The ladder couldn’t ‘contract’ due to being lashed at the overlap, the tie downs pulled the ladder into the triangle of the wall, ground, and itself but it couldn’t move due to the ropes. It was probably overkill but the ladder was as solid as it could be, even going up 3.5 floors - allowing for the lower garden.

[williamwright]

Agreed.

Bill

[williamwright]

Pointless having someone holding the ladder. In reality it doesn't help. The ladder itself should be perfectly stable.

If you're up a ladder all day you should be using a scaffold platform of some sort.

Bill

[Rod Speed]

williamwright [e-mail] wrote

It can do if the ladder trys to move sideways and the holder stops that happening.

[alan_m]

I've found that decent foot ware also helps - I found wearing safety boots with a metal insole helped in my use of ladders.

[Robin]

I agree that a more solid ladder makes a massive difference. But the system of grading ladders by 3 loads was replaced in 2018. The new standard requires a minimum of 150 kg for all ladders, both "non-professional" and "professional".

[charles]

I have a friend (was with the BSI) who was on the EU committee for ladders. The Germans could never understand why the British wanted low quality ladders. Of couse, since Brexit we can has as unsafe ladders as we want.

[Brian Gaff]

Yes and a couple of outriggers if the ground is not flat.also if anychance of sinking in, a couple of paving stones under the load bearing bits. Actually, even with all the safety in the world the bounce and creaking wobbling make me feel almost seasick, even though I cannot see the ground any more and am just attaching a pulley to an eye bolt.

Brian

[Robin]

"Can" does not equal "do".

And having seen a wee bit of how EU technical working groups work I wouldn't don't rule out the possibility that the Germans were looking to protect their domestic manufacturers from competition from non-EU ladders. And care that imported ladders for domestic use, while not as strong as the German ones, were (a) cheaper and (b) lighter; that as such they would be bought by people - especially people in poorer States

- for domestic use who would otherwise not buy a ladder but stand on chairs or stools, leading to more falls, injuries, hospital visits/stays.

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

I disagree. If the person holding, stands on the bottom rung, their weight can make a big difference to the overall stability, acting as a counter balance to your own weight up at the top.

Best of all, is some sort of lashing at the base.

[Michael Chare]

Where possible I secure ladders at the top.

[John J]

I was "trained for ladder work" at an early age. We had an orchard of mature fruit trees and it became my childhood autumn job to climb the ladder with a bushel basket equipped with a hook to hang it onto a suitable rung while I picked the fruit and placed it into the basket. As the basket filled up it's increasing weight would press the ladder deeper into the branches often slipping off one and settling on another deeper into the canopy. My dad's voice still rings in my ears "hang on tight the branches get thicker towards the middle of the tree". I'm still around 😂

[Colin Bignell]

You can still buy all three grades of ladder, but the commercial grade is now called EN 131, rather than Class 2 as previously. As you say, that has a maximum static load of 150kgs, but I find the lower duty ratings a better guide as to the weight of person they can carry.

[Vir Campestris]

The thatchers who did our roof looked mad to me. They had the ladders laid on the slope of the roof (about 45 degrees) and would move them around by jumping while up the ladder.

They've been doing that for decades and haven't killed themselves yet.

Andy

[GB]

You can hurt your back carrying a heavy ladder. :)

[Colin Bignell]

Like the triple extension wooden ladder we had when I were a lad.

[Robin]

The change to the EN 131 standard was made in 2018. Firms could sell stock of the old Classes of ladder but I'm very surprised they are still available.

All ladders to the new standard are "EN131 ladders".

EN131 requires the ladders to be labelled as either non-professional or professional.