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• 2007
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• December
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• A safer step up the ladder in Knowsley

Knowsley Council’s campaign to rid workplaces of dodgy ladders has reached new heights, helping keep employees stay safe.

Ladder Exchange, the national initiative, saw Knowsley Council’s Environmental Health Officers working in partnership with other local authorities and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to stop nearly 100 people every month falling from ladders at work and costing the economy £60m a year.

During this month, Environmental Health officers visited workplaces across Merseyside to look at the use of ladders and suggest sensible measures to improve safety.

Knowsley businesses have also had the chance to get their ladders checked and, where necessary, trade them in for new ones at a discounted price.

Inspectors were pleased to note a significant reduction in the number of dangerous ladders in use in workplaces across the region this year compared to two years previously. In fact, only 12% of premises they visited were using unsafe ladders this year compared to 20% in 1995.

Cllr Ken Keith, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Corporate and Customer Services said: “This is an ongoing safety initiative which aims to remove defective ladders from workplaces in the borough, thereby cutting the potentially very serious consequences of the accidents which can be caused.

“It is very pleasing to see that our inspectors found evidence of a very much reduced number of faulty ladders being used in the region. This is evidence of an increased level of awareness about safe working at height among companies in our area.”

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