When Can You Use a Ladder on Site? The Work at Height Test

Pro Site Docs · Guide

Two myths cause most ladder problems: that ladders are banned, and that they are fine for anything if you are careful. The regulations say neither. They set a test, and the test is short.

What Schedule 6 says

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require the most suitable equipment for the work, chosen in a hierarchy that puts collective fall prevention (guardrails, platforms) above personal protection and above equipment that only reduces the chance of a fall. Schedule 6 allows a ladder to be used for work at height only where a risk assessment shows that other, safer equipment is not justified because of the low risk and short duration of the use, or because of existing site features that cannot be altered.

The HSE benchmarks

HSE guidance (INDG455, 'Safe use of ladders and stepladders') puts short duration at around 30 minutes in one position and light work at about 10 kg. It also expects the user to maintain three points of contact, keep the belt buckle inside the stiles (no side reaching), avoid tasks needing force, set a leaning ladder at 75° on firm level ground, and secure it - tied, footed or with a stability device. The ladder check tool runs these as six questions.

When the answer is no

Longer than half an hour, loads that need two hands, drilling into masonry, pulling cable, anything over a drop or a fragile roof, soft or sloping ground with nowhere to secure - any of these and the risk assessment cannot honestly reach 'low risk, short duration'. That is the point at which a podium step, a mobile tower, a scaffold or a MEWP is the required choice, not a nice-to-have.

What to use instead

Podium steps have replaced stepladders on most well-run sites for internal and low-level work: a platform, a guardrail, both hands free, and they cost less than a day's lost production. Small mobile towers for longer internal work. Scaffold, tower or MEWP for external, higher or longer work, with the erection and inspection records that go with them. The scaffold inspection guide covers the seven-day rule.

Ladder condition and checks

Use Class 1 or EN 131 professional ladders; domestic Class 3 ladders are not for site. Do a pre-use check every time - stiles, rungs, feet, locking bars on steps - and a recorded inspection at regular intervals. Tag or remove damaged ladders the same day. A ladder register is a five-minute job and is the first thing asked for after a fall.

Writing it into the method statement

Where a ladder is justified, say why in one sentence: the task, the duration, the load, and why other equipment was not reasonably practicable. Where it is not, name the equipment, who erects and inspects it, and the rescue arrangement. A RAMS that says 'ladders to be used safely' has not made the decision the regulations require.

Get the documents ready-made

The Working at Height Pack has RAMS for ladders, podiums, towers, MEWPs and roof work, pre-use inspection checklists, a ladder register and the rescue plan as editable Word documents.

General guidance only. This article explains how the rules generally work in UK construction. It is not advice for your specific site, task or project, and it is not legal advice. Your own risk assessment, method statement and arrangements must be prepared and checked by a competent person for the actual work being done.