The harsh weather conditions of the past few weeks have continued into December, and the first headline-grabbing snowfall of the winter is a good time to look at safety ladders, and the benefits they bring when scaling a building to reach the roof.
We’ve already looked at man anchors in the past couple of weeks, but reaching the roof in order to tether to a man anchor can pose problems of its own.
Safety ladders help to remove some of the risk, in particular by surrounding the individual with a cage that makes it more difficult for them to fall.
And with snowfall predicted to continue in the days to come and the Met Office predicting the coldest temperatures of the winter so far in some places, it’s a timely opportunity to take a fresh look at existing safety measures, and any areas that could be improved.
Snow can be as dangerous as ice – and even more so in some cases, as it can become packed hard in the tread of safety boots, removing a degree of grip.
If you lose your footing on a normal ladder, there is a high chance that you will fall; safety ladders, by contrast, help to reduce that risk, while offering even greater stability due to their being fixed to the wall.