There are loads of rules and regulations that employers must abide by to keep you safe from injury at work. When it comes to ladders, there are typically two areas that play the primary part in establishing that your employer has been negligent. These are:
- The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
- The Work at Height Regulations 2005
Under The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, Regulation 4 is key. This reads as follows:
4. (1) Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is so constructed or adapted as to be suitable for the purpose for which it is used or provided.
(2) In selecting work equipment, every employer shall have regard to the working conditions and to the risks to the health and safety of persons which exist in the premises or undertaking in which that work equipment is to be used and any additional risk posed by the use of that work equipment.
(3) Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is used only for operations for which, and under conditions for which, it is suitable.
(4) In this regulation “suitable” means suitable in any respect which it is reasonably foreseeable will affect the health or safety of any person (source).
This puts the duty on your employer to ensure that the right type of ladder is provided for the job you are doing. Being given the incorrect type puts you at risk of injury, and a breach of these regulations leaves your employer liability for a work injury claim for personal injury compensation.
Under The Work at Height Regulations 2005, Regulation 7 is important, as this covers the selection of work equipment for work at height:
- (2) An employer shall select work equipment for work at height which –
- (a)has characteristics including dimensions which –
- (i)are appropriate to the nature of the work to be performed and the foreseeable loadings; and
- (ii)allow passage without risk; and
- (b)is in other respects the most suitable work equipment, having regard in particular to the purposes specified in regulation 6. (source)
The application of this is fairly obvious. There is a significant duty on your employer to provide you with the correct work equipment, and ladders fall within the scope of work equipment.
If you are injured due to your employer providing you with the incorrect type of ladder for the job you are doing, give us a call now as it sounds like you have a strong claim for personal injury compensation. We still offer a 100% compensation agreement so contact us now on 0800 634 75 75 for advice today.
