In-store equipment inspections
Posted on 4th Jan, 2016 | By Lorretta Tatham
Over time, the quality of your ladder can deteriorate. Wear and tear, frequent use, and even poor storage conditions can lead to changes to your ladder. To ensure your ladder remains safe to work from at all times it’s important to carry out frequent ladder inspections. While you should inspect your ladder before every use – checking for loose steps or rungs, damaged feet, loose or faulty parts, as well as cracks, splits and erosion; a more thorough check is also required every so often.
At Browns Ladders we offer a reputable Ladder Inspection service, which up until now has only been available on-site at your workplace. For 2016 we’ve introduced a new service and are now offering Ladder Inspections at our shop in Brierfield.
For only £20+VAT per item, we can inspect your ladders, tag them and provide a report on the outcome of the inspection. This service will be particularly useful to self-employed individuals in the trade, such as painters, decorators, plumbers, roofing contractors, and alarm system engineers. Unlike our on-site service, this new ladder inspection service allows the opportunity for those that don’t have a lot of equipment to get their items inspected at ease by a professional.
Why invest in equipment inspections?
If you’re self-employed, the chances are you rely on your access equipment day in day out. This frequent use of equipment means that wear and tear is inevitable and regular inspections by a third party will be beneficial.
When a ladder does get damaged, serious incidents can occur. Bent, worn, or missing rails can result in a ladder failing; damaged stiles and / or locking mechanisms could lead to a ladder collapsing; and a split or buckled stepladder platform leads to instability. What’s more, many of the dangers cannot be spotted by a quick visual inspection alone. Workers must check for cracks and damage by running their fingers across the product and inspecting every singly detail. In addition, because many self-employed professionals work alone, or as part of a small team, should an incident occur, treatment or appropriate first aid may not be available.
Frequency of inspections
Regular inspections are the only way you can be 100% certain of ladder safety. Depending on your usage of a product, we’d recommend inspections on a three, four or six-monthly basis. We can help you decide what’s best for you in store.
What’s more, to help you keep on top of the admin of ladder inspections, we’ll also make sure you get a reminder of when your next inspection is due. We will inform you of your inspection date at the time of your visit, and will contact you again approximately two weeks before as a reminder.
Why not ensure optimum health and safety in 2016 with a ladder inspection to kick start the year? You can organise a ladder inspection with Browns Ladders today by calling the team on 01282 615517. Remember, we can offer on-site inspections at your workplace, or at our shop in Brierfield – whichever is most convenient for you.
Have you tried out the Browns Ladders inspection service? If so, why not leave a review in the comments below? Alternatively you can tweet your review to us @BrownsLadders
