HSE says the awareness for ladder safety is rising
Posted on 4th May, 2012 | By Lorretta Tatham
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has revealed that injuries due to falls from ladders and step ladders has fallen from 2132 in 2008 to 2011 in 2009 and 1817 in 2010.
However, there has actually been an increase of around 51 per cent in the total number of falls from height reported to HSE over the same period. From 2002, there was a drop of 31 per cent.
The Ladder Association says the increase in ladder safety result of combination of initiatives in collaboration with other agencies.
The Ladder association says: “Whatever the skeptics may say, it cannot be denied that these welcome statistics coincide with a significant increase in the number of users successfully completing a Ladder Association training course.
“Since the training scheme was first launched in November 2005, the year-on-year increase, after an initial exponential growth in the first few years, has been consistent at around 25 per cent for the last couple of years.”
The Ladder Association constantly promotes the message that if you must use a ladder, use it safely.
The message gets through much more quickly when supported by companies and campaigners such as Browns Ladders.
The HSE has had a major impact on bringing ladder safety into the public awareness, especially with it’s recent Ladder Exchange programme, including maintenance and keeping them safe for use.
The Ladder Exchange, which ran from 2007 up until this year, helped to remove thousands of unsafe and damaged ladders in the workplace.
Visit the ladder safety training page for more information.