[Klean07]

http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/casestudies/ladders.htm

[PureClean Window Cleaning Ltd]

interesting, some company was fined about £80k this week over a death of a self employed maintenance worker, (he fell through a roof, aged about 70)

[Johnny B]

Read and understood.

I am 100% trad therefore am up and down my ladders day in, day out. I am never complacent, and take great care when using them. If I feel that it is not safe to reach a certain window, such as above a sloping ledge or on ground that slopes away or sideways, I don't do it. And I would never expect anyone to do anything I wouldn't be prepared to do myself.

John

[LWC]

Ladders are illegal

[Pope vader]

come on lads,  most tradders aint bothered if they are banned, hell they aint bothered about signing on as well,  lol

[bumper]

 

[trevor perry]

its a shame the HSE are not as concerned over the use of nuclear fuels and messing about with GM foods   Now google the number of deaths from prescribed pharmaceutical drugs its probably safer up that ladder if used properly than visiting your doctor

[AS Window Cleaning]

was scary how many deaths and injuries from falling from height.

Some of our custys love the fact we are not up ladders so much anymore.  Some tho want us to go back to it, even after ali (my wwife) said about me risking injury and the amount of people killed, they still preferred it!!! 

You got to think bout yourself, most of your customers wont!

[Pope vader]

i love it when a custy says cant you use a ladder, no for insurance reasons  then say this

if i fall of a ladder i get done and you get done for letting me use a ladder, if you watch sky they drill holes in the wall to secure the ladder before they put a dish up,  plus there was a builder who fell off a ladder   think he was using it to get on to a garage roof height building,  because the women insisted he use it and not go throught the house to get out of the door on to the roof,  he fell sued  h and s done him, the company and the women,  the judge ruled they all where responsible for a !/3 of the damage,  basically the women ended up selling here house to pay the builder,  as her insurance wouldnt cover it as they said she should of let him use the safest method


(true that)

then point out why hose is yellow and where a high viz,  all health and safety

[Johnny B]

come on lads,  most tradders aint bothered if they are banned, hell they aint bothered about signing on as well,  lol

Is it true they are banned in the UK? No problem for me, as I don't live and work in the UK! 

John

[Pope vader]

ladders aint banned, they might be in ireland, but not great britain

[Jeff Brimble]

(true that)
then point out why hose is yellow and where a high viz,  all health and safety

If they trip on a hose it doesnt make any difference what colour it is, especially if they are colourblind or partially sighted, old or infirm 

[Pope vader]

i know, but i claim it has to be yellow or a bright colour so it can be seen better

[Johnny B]

ladders aint banned, they might be in ireland, but not great britain

Definitely not banned in Ireland. Every other w/c I have met in my town is trad. I've not seen one wfp w/c in the 5 months I have been here. It always amuses me that wfp w/c's always pull the 'Ladders are banned' card, not because they are concerned about the welfare of tradders (you know full well they want to take over our businesses and couldn't give a rat's backside whether we fall off our so called banned ladders), but because they are insecure about themselves and have to try to put us down in order that they may boast about how good their pole is.  

In my (humble) opinion, guys that fall from ladders are those who either a) are in too much of a hurry and don't take the necessary time and care, b) who don't use them regularly and forget how to use them properly,  c) are overconfident or complacent.

As I have said many times before, there is room for both wfp and trad. My preferred method is trad, and I will happily stick with it. Thank you very much.  

John

[Nathanael Jones]

Ladders aren't banned, but they are restricted.

Its very, VERY hard to be a trad window cleaner anywhere in Europe (all work at height law is based on the same EU document & is word for word identical in many countries) and stay within the letter of the law. The law basically states that if there is an alternative to working at height then you must use it.

Financial constraints are taken into account, but with a basic WFP setup costing only about £500 then anyone in business longer than a year or two can't really use that excuse.

Duration of work is also a factor,.. if it will only take 5 minutes up a ladder, then a cherry picker & the associated costs would not be deemed a practicable alternative. If you're up & down ladders all day ever day though it would be hard to argue that your ladder work is short duration.

[Handyman Window Cleaning Services]

Ladders are illegal

i see by your name/avator that you must be a retained fire fighter.  so if ladders are illegal how do you get to upperfloors.

[Pope vader]

only firefighter are allowed to use ladders, that is why they are all wc on the side,

[Johnny B]

only firefighter are allowed to use ladders, that is why they are all wc on the side,

So it's OK for a firefighter to be a trad cleaner, but no-one else?

John

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

 

[Erithwc]

Ladders are illegal

The Regulations do not ban the use of ladders. Ladders can be used for low-risk, short-duration work and where a risk assessment shows that other more suitable work equipment is not appropriate because of the location.

Schedule 6 of the Work at Height Regulations link to external website deals with the requirements for ladders. For more information on ladder safety, see: Safe use of ladders and stepladders PDF.