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28th January 2021

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Record-breaking Ladder Exchange crowns 'biggest idiot on a ladder'

After receiving more entries than ever before, the Ladder Association's Idiots on Ladders contest has ended and 2014's 'biggest idiot on a ladder' has been crowned.

The success of Idiots on Ladders mirrored a record-breaking year for the Ladder Exchange, which traded over 15% more ladders than in the previous year, continuing its three straight years of growth since being taken over by the Ladder Association in 2012.

The winning Idiots on Ladders picture received nearly 60% more votes than its two joint runners-up. It showed two men inside the bucket of an excavator which was already around 20 feet off the ground, with one of them footing the ladder in the bucket so the other could climb to the top. That was KBzine's favourite and we featured it in one of our December issues! Our illustration today wasn't in the running this year but features a novel use of a couple of toolboxes, aimed at giving the ladder an extra few feet!

Ladder Association Communications & Social Media Officer, Michael Fern, says: "The public sent in more pictures of people working dangerously at height (during 2014) than ever before, and some of the pictures were among the most unbelievable we have seen.

"Along with the winner, one of the runners up also showed a ladder being used from inside an excavator, hinting at how worryingly common even ideas as ridiculous as these can be. Idiots on Ladders is a great reminder of the importance of training. Its message is clear - if you are using a ladder you must make sure that you are competent, otherwise you really are taking your life in your hands."

Every year the Idiots on Ladders contest is run online as part of the Ladder Exchange. Idiots on Ladders shows the importance of training and competence, while the Ladder Exchange itself helps people ensure they are using safe equipment by allowing people and businesses to trade in ladders - regardless of their condition - for new ones at a discount.

The Ladder Association is already planning for the 2015 Ladder Exchange, which will take place in autumn. All of the tips and guidance produced for the 2014 Exchange are still available on its website (ladderexchange.org.uk).

The full Idiots on Ladders picture galleries from the past three years can be found on the Ladder Association Facebook page (facebook.com/ladderassociation).

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.

Despite a steady decline, falls from height remain the most common kind of workplace fatality. In 2010/11, a total of 38 workers died and 4,327 employees suffered a major injury as a result of a fall from height in the workplace, with a further 10,232 employees suffering an 'over 3 day' injury. Many of these incidents could have been avoided by people with the right training using the correct equipment that had been properly inspected and maintained.

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

23rd January 2015