Ladder safety

When you need this form

Ladders cause a large share of serious injuries in window and facade cleaning. Any job where a ladder comes off the van needs the setup checked: ground condition, angle, footing, tie-off, exclusion zone below and the weather at the time. Working at heights is the first thing a builder, strata manager or facilities team looks at when awarding facade work.

Height incidents get investigated hard. Investigators want the pre-start check for that ladder, on that day, at that address. A photo of the erected ladder with its footing and angle visible, taken before work started and pinned to the site, is worth more than a generic safe work method statement sitting in the tender folder.

What good looks like

• Ladder identified and inspected: no bent rails, split feet or missing pads.
• Setup recorded: angle, secure footing, top tie-off, and ground condition.
• Exclusion zone below established, with pedestrian and vehicle traffic managed.
• Weather and wind assessed, with a stop rule if conditions change.
• Photo of the ladder in position before work, plus worker sign-on.