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It is stated in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, in section 8;

"Every employer shall provide and maintain, as far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of his employees."

"( a) the provision and maintenance of systems of work, plant and machinery that, as far as is reasonably practicable; are safe and without risks to health; 

(b) taking such steps as may be reasonably practicable to eliminate or mitigate any hazard or potential hazard . to the safety or health of employees, before resorting to personal protective equipment; 

(c) making arrangements for ensuring, as far as is reasonably practicable, the safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the production, processing, use, handling, storage or transport of articles or substances;  

(d) establishing, as far as is reasonably practicable, what hazards to the health or safety of persons are attached to any work which is performed, any article or substance which is produced, processed, used, handled, stored or transported and any plant or machinery which is used in his business, and he shall, as far as is reasonably practicable, further establish what precautionary measures should be taken with respect to such work, article, substance, plant or machinery in order to protect the health and safety of persons, and he shall provide the necessary means to apply such precautionary measures; 

(e) providing such information, instructions, training and supervision as  may be necessary to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees;"

As you can see from the the bolded sections we've selected out of the legislation, it is critical to point out that as an employer, the law recognises that you have essentially put that employee on that ladder to work, and it states that you, the employer, must make sure that the work to be done, must be done so safely, by means of removing the hazards and risks by means of safe operating procedures, and safety training for the employee.

The safety training part of what we mentioned is where we will train the employee to recognise the dangers of working on a ladder, using the incorrect ladder, positioning the ladder on an uneven surface, noticing defects or damages on a ladder, working at heights, weather conditions, etc.

In health and safety, we can NEVER assume that every person knows exactly the dangers of doing certain things on a ladder, you can quickly go and youtube ladder falls, and find a host of epic fails of people working unsafely on a ladder. Don't believe us, click here to see a few.

These people are not stupid, nor did they go to intentionally fall off the ladder. They simply did not have the knowledge of the dangers of working on a ladder.

Why? Because they have never been tasked to use a ladder or was taught the correct way to use it, so the experience and knowledge is just not there, they did not know that they needed to check the ground they put the ladder on would sink in once their body weight climbed onto the ladder, they didn't know the correct angle to place a ladder for maximum stability, etc.

This is why we do ladder safety training with our employees, to give them the proper knowledge to do the job correctly and most importantly, safely.

Click here to make your booking for a ladder safety course.

Our course is accredited with SAIOSH, the South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.