(Saftey tools) Working up ladders

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Hi Guys,

I work up ladders quite a lot using 11m ladders.

I am not usually that high but often working on farm sheds which can be higher than a standard houses guttering.

Do any of you recommend any ladder saftey gear? I cant drill into metal barns/sheds for fixing ladders etc.

If possible I drive my van and block the bottom of the ladder using a tyre but not always possible. I have seen these yellow ladder anchors. Its like a yellow leg which runs under the ladder and chains to the bottom. Thinking it might be worth investing... would be interested to know what any of you guys do.

I have thought about harnesses but if the ladder isn't secure and you fall the ladder would just go with you.

Also single pitch/sloped roofs, is there a ladder or tool you can use to go up on these and then stand up to work/paint, sort guttering out etc?

Just trying to be careful really... any advice is appreciated.

Cheers in advance.
 
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A couple of heavy plastic bags of aggregate.

But surely a cherry picker or a scaffold tower would be safer, or do cost or practicalities rule these out?

Blup
 
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A couple of heavy plastic bags of aggregate.

But surely a cherry picker or a scaffold tower would be safer, or does cost or practicalities rule these out?

Blup

Its just for alarms and CCTV etc. If its a big job you can price in a cherry picker but for 1 or 2... its a little iffyyyy. At the same time I would like to make things as safe as I can get away with for the quick job of that makes sense. I usually just use 25kg bags of sand. Im just thinking if there are any safer measures that I dont know about.
 
If they are metal roofs, I wonder if a pair of massive neodyninium magnets with rings in would secure the ladder at the top?
 
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If you want an indication of how things have changed in recent years, consider how sign writers for the bigger firms now work: they carry a scaffolding tower on or inside the van and rarely if ever, work off ladders. Sometimes they use cherry pickerd or scissor lifts, though.

You can make a ladder more secure by adding ring bolts to the structure and tieing the ladder to the structure (ideally two eye bolts with the tie-off forming a "v" shape) which mostly prevents the ladder moving, especially if you add ground spikes tied to the foot of the ladder, one each side. The issue is always going to be that if you work up a ladder you simply have no way to to hold onto the ladder securely whilst using your tools. Wear a harness secured to the ladder and then have a fall (and assuming that the ladder is properly fixed to the building and doesn't move) and then without someone there to rescue you promptly, you will end up injured or dead because hanging in a harness for too long cuts circulation of blood to the legs, so I'd probably rule out harnesses for that reason alone unless you can guarantee a workable rescue plan
 
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Ladder stabilizer legs?

This may well be one of those situations where the "right" access equipment means that you don't get the job, and a Heath Robinson solution is required - but you do seem aware of what should be done.

I've had the ladder/ harness training and it does seem that harnesses themselves have their own dangers.

I'd suggest that having someone else there in case of emergencies, even if it's the customer regularly checking up, should be part of any safety plan.
 
A stabiliser bar, with rubber feet, across the bottom wouldn't go amiss. Some tied ties, as suggested by JobAndKnock, should be used and also tied off securely at the top would make it very secure. However, these take time to implement and if you are on a timed job that involves a lot of moving the ladders, may prove too costly. Ultimate priority must be your safety and anyone in the working area, which basically covers the an area equal to a radius of the extended ladder length plus 10% E.G. Extended ladder length 10 metres. Working area 10m + 1 = 11metre radius to the side of the ladder and sweeping around in an arc to the same distance at the other side of the ladder.
 

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