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Ladder Exchange looks at safe use with 'Idiots on Ladders contest'

With this year's Ladder Exchange now underway, the Ladder Association is again asking for submissions to its Idiots on Ladders contest, which has the public send in the worst pictures of ladder use they can find, to show just how dangerous it can be to misuse a ladder.

Idiots on Ladders is part of a two-pronged push to help ensure ladder users are safe. While the Ladder Exchange - which lets people trade their old, possibly dodgy ladders for safe new ones at a discount - takes unsafe equipment out of circulation, Idiots on Ladders looks at the role of people using the equipment.

The contest is held on the Ladder Association's Facebook page, where pictures sent in by the public are added to an album, and the one with the most 'likes' at the end of the Ladder Exchange in December is crowned this year's biggest Idiot on a Ladder.

For this year's Exchange, the focus on people keeping themselves safe is just as vital as the condition of their ladders. That is why the Exchange's first month is themed around safe use and training.

"Most people these days understand what makes ladder use safe or unsafe," says Cameron Clow, Ladder Association Chairman. "For two years now we have been running the Idiots on Ladders contest, and each time pictures have come flooding in. That shows that the public knows when people are doing something on a ladder they shouldn't, and are shocked by it, but it also shows that misusing a ladder is far too common.

"We're devoting a month of the Ladder Exchange to promoting safe use so that everyone knows the guidance and training they need is available. You don't have to be working in construction to benefit, even occasional users in retail, for example, have a course tailored to them. Putting aside a few hours of a day can ensure you never wind up being an Idiot on a Ladder."

Tips on using ladders - from inspections to using them at work and in the home - are also available from the Ladder Exchange website at ladderexchange.org.uk, where people and companies can also find out where to trade in their old ladders for new ones. This year's Exchange runs from September 1st until December 31st.

To enter a picture, simply post it onto the Facebook page or email it to: E: [email protected]

The Ladder Association is the trade body responsible for advancing safety and best practice in the ladder industry, and oversees the delivery of national training. Formed in 1947 by leading ladder manufacturers, the Ladder Association has since expanded to welcome members from every part of the access industry, playing an integral role in promoting the highest standards of ladder design and manufacture, and advancing best practice in ladder use. With its focus on training, and its recent move to take over the Health & Safety Executive's Ladder Exchange scheme, the Association is a vibrant, forward-looking organisation determined to look after the best interests of its increasingly diverse membership base and, of course, the industry at large.

T: 0845 260 1048
E: [email protected]
W: www.ladderexchange.org.uk

5th September 2014