Ladders, often used by workers in the construction sector, in agriculture and in the cleaning industry, come with many risks. As the work is carried out at sometimes considerable heights, it can result in fall accidents with dramatic consequences for the worker. The design of ladders, including their ease of use and robustness, can contribute to a good, safe and practice-oriented work equipment.
The ETUC commissioned in 2022 a study to examine two types of ladders with respect to their safety: window-cleaning ladders and loft ladders. Regarding the latter, often used by chimney sweeps, the study investigated their testing procedures on different aspects, including temperature, humidity and mixture of material (e.g. wooden ladder with metal screws). The testing of the release torques showed that humidity has a considerable influence on the loosening of the screw connections. This led to one of the recommendations of the study being the use of locking devices to prevent screws from loosening. An additional recommendation is the inclusion of loft ladders in the EU Construction Products Regulation, as a measure to increase their underlying safety requirements and long-term implementation.
Concerning the window-cleaning ladders, they are often supported by a foot to increase stability, especially for ladders that can go very high. The study showed that a reduction of the ladder foot decreases the stability of the ladder, and that the overall stability depends on more conditions such as friction, person weight, set-up angle and surface roughness. The study therefore recommends that the underlying test procedures for approval of the ladders should be extended to include dynamic forces.
The results of the study were presented to CEN/TC 93 ‘Ladders’, where the ETUC has been participating in the elaboration of ladder standards since 2021.
Giovanni COLLOT
gcollot@cencenelec.eu
