Using ladders safely

Every time you use a ladder you should do a pre-use check beforehand to make sure that it is safe for use. A pre-use check should be carried out by:

• the user
• before using the ladder for a work task
• after something has changed, ie a ladder dropped or moved from a dirty area to a clean area (check state or condition of feet)

The benefit of conducting pre-use checks is that they provide the opportunity to pick up any immediate/serious defects before they cause an accident.