Ken Cain
Active member
On the 31st March 2011 NASC issued a safety alert regarding using steel pole ladders being used without textured rungs, included in the safety alert was a copy of a prohibition notice issued on 24th August 2010 by the HSE listing breaches of PUWER 1998.
Following that NASC alert several major companies banned the use of these pole ladders at a cost to the scaffolding industry.
On the 24th May 2011 NASC issued another Safety Alert, warning that the earlier ban and the Prohibition Notice had been withdrawn and we can now carry on using these dangerous ladders. How very nice after we have spent considerable sums of money on providing safe new ladders.
The following statement has now been issued by the HSE, the NASC and the Ladder Association in which they would like to confirm that the immediate and wholesale removal of steel pole ladders from service or the supply chain is not necessary. It is not a legal requirement for these ladders to conform to a specific standard. The legal requirement is that they are fit for purpose.
In June 2010 Philip White stated that as from January 2010 the construction industry must be seen to be working to BS EN 12811 as if it were an act of parliament. Are the HSE aware of BS EN 12811-1:2003 and it's requirements? because Clause 5.8.1 of BS EN 12811-1:2003 states:-
"Safe and ergonomic means of access shall be provided. The scaffold system shall include provision for access between the different levels. This shall be by inclined ladders or stairs. It shall be within the platform, within a widening of the working scaffold at one bay or in a tower immediately adjacent. Ladders in accordance with EN 131-1 and EN 131-2 may be assumed to satisfy the requirements for access in this standard. The stairways and ladders shall be secured against unintentional loosening and shall have a slip resistant surface."
If we comply with BS EN 12811 as Philip White has stated then the ladders shall have slip resistant surface, Does this mean that Philip Whites statement has no substance and will have to be withdrawn? And can the HSE now confirm that we do not have to comply with either the British or European Standards as they have lead us to believe?
Should I send my invoice for the new ladders to NASC or should they be sent to the HSE for reimbursement. What should we do?
Ken Cain
Following that NASC alert several major companies banned the use of these pole ladders at a cost to the scaffolding industry.
On the 24th May 2011 NASC issued another Safety Alert, warning that the earlier ban and the Prohibition Notice had been withdrawn and we can now carry on using these dangerous ladders. How very nice after we have spent considerable sums of money on providing safe new ladders.
The following statement has now been issued by the HSE, the NASC and the Ladder Association in which they would like to confirm that the immediate and wholesale removal of steel pole ladders from service or the supply chain is not necessary. It is not a legal requirement for these ladders to conform to a specific standard. The legal requirement is that they are fit for purpose.
In June 2010 Philip White stated that as from January 2010 the construction industry must be seen to be working to BS EN 12811 as if it were an act of parliament. Are the HSE aware of BS EN 12811-1:2003 and it's requirements? because Clause 5.8.1 of BS EN 12811-1:2003 states:-
"Safe and ergonomic means of access shall be provided. The scaffold system shall include provision for access between the different levels. This shall be by inclined ladders or stairs. It shall be within the platform, within a widening of the working scaffold at one bay or in a tower immediately adjacent. Ladders in accordance with EN 131-1 and EN 131-2 may be assumed to satisfy the requirements for access in this standard. The stairways and ladders shall be secured against unintentional loosening and shall have a slip resistant surface."
If we comply with BS EN 12811 as Philip White has stated then the ladders shall have slip resistant surface, Does this mean that Philip Whites statement has no substance and will have to be withdrawn? And can the HSE now confirm that we do not have to comply with either the British or European Standards as they have lead us to believe?
Should I send my invoice for the new ladders to NASC or should they be sent to the HSE for reimbursement. What should we do?
Ken Cain
