Ladders a guide to changing standards
The new standard will introduce stabilisers on ladders over 3 metres and will include new slip tests. The design of the stabiliser is not restricted to one design. It can be a bar type or lateral type but it must meet the requirements to increase the base width.
Ladders and Stepladders manufactured to the current standards are considered safe, but accident figures from ladders are still too high. The main cause of falls from height are caused by people falling from ladders. The most common incidents involve over-reaching, over-balancing, misuse, unexpected movement and the failure of a fragile surface.
Experience shows that these events usually arise due to poor management rather than equipment failure. The new standard is more focused on performance in use with higher minimum test requirements. The committee responsible for the development of the standard, describe it as a state-of-the-art technical document designed to make ladders safer and more durable.
The new standard does not mean that products designed to earlier versions of the standard are unsafe or illegal to use. The new standard should be seen as an improvement not a direct replacement. In reality, we are likely to see ladders manufactured to the old national standard BS2037 and the previous EN131 standard for some considerable time, whilst Manufacturers,.Test Houses, Distributors and Consumers transition to the latest standards.
In the United Kingdom, Ladders and Stepladders are currently covered by two standards, which are BS2037 & EN131. There are separate standards for Loft Ladders, Stepstools. Telescopic Ladders and Mobile Ladders with a Platform. BS2037 has two categories, which are Class 1 for Industrial products and Class 3 for Domestic products. This standard will be withdrawn towards the end of 2017 and replaced with a revised EN131 standard. The new EN131 standard will have two categories, which are Professional and Non-Professional. All Ladders and Stepladders will be load rated to 150 kg. The professional products will be subject to more intense testing for strength and durability.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
In our opinion, the accident figures from ladders are still too high. In 2015/16, 37 people died and nearly 119,000 suffered a serious injury because of a fall from height in the workplace. The main cause of all falls from height injuries is people falling from ladders.
Ladder accidents generally fall into one of four broad categories; the wrong ladder is used, the ladder fails because it is in poor condition, uneven surface and most commonly the ladder is used improperly. Whilst training can dramatically reduce these problems the standard also attempts to design in safety features to forgive a certain degree of misuse.
Revision of ladder standards has been led by the UK, involving industry experts from several countries. Brian Marsh, Chairman of the BSI B512 Ladder Committee confirmed at the 2017 Ladder Association Conference that the revised EN 131 standards development took almost seven years. In the committee's view, the standard is now state-of-the-art and represents the highest specification for ladders in the world.
Consumers are likely to get a higher quality, safer and durable product at the entry levels of the Non-Professional (DIY) markets. Some of the requirements for the EN131 Professional grade are more onerous than our previous BS 2037:Class 1 standard so we are likely to see design changes to these products to make them fully compliant.
The fact that the standard now has two grades should also make product selection easier for consumers. However as several of the requirements will potentially require additional investments in materials, design, and testing, it is likely some products are going to be more expensive to produce.
As BS 2037 is being withdrawn, from now on we will have two grades know as Professional or Non-Professional. Whilst most of the dimensional requirements are similar, the main difference comes down to strength and durability. Professional ladders need to be able to withstand greater loads and Professional steps are expected to be more durable than their Non-Professional counterparts.
Manufacturers can over-test but all ladders and steps will have a single load rating of 150kg. The new tests apply more onerous strength and durability requirements on Professional ladders and steps.
New strength tests, in the position of use, reproduce in the laboratory how ladders are used in the real world. Nonprofessional ladders have to meet a strength test of 2250N and Professional ladders a higher load of 2750N.
To ensure the long-term reliability of steps, the new standard introduces a durability test, again in the position of use. The test simulates climbing, by applying a load to alternate treads of 10,000 cycles for Non-Professional and 50,000 cycles for Professional.
One of the biggest causes of ladder accidents is flip or toppling from over-reaching. To improve stability, every ladder over three metres will have to increase the base width to height ratio to help reduce accidents. The most popular method is likely to be a fixed stabiliser bar at the bottom or a splayed base. More sophisticated telescopic or outrigger solutions are also acceptable as long as they are an integral part of the ladder.
What about my old ladders?
The new standard does not mean old products or products designed to earlier versions of the standard are unsafe or illegal to use. In simple terms, it means products designed to the new standard will meet a new minimum set of requirements to ensure they are safe and durable to use.
Mark Mayo Jesting Team Manager at BSI Group (British Standards Institution) announced at the 2017 Annual Ladder Association Conference that took place in Manchester, Friday 3 March 2017, a three-year transition for the new EN131 ladder standard instead of the normal twelve months.
The accompanying statement read 'Kitemark’ Certificates will need to be updated to these latest standards. However, we recognise the transition will require product re-design, initial type testing including durability testing and development of in-house testing facilities at the manufacturing sites to ensure manufactured products are consistently compliant.'
'We also recognise that market demand will influence the transition of some manufacturers. For these reasons, whilst we would normally implement a 12-month transition period from a previous version of a standard to a new version, to assist our Kitemark Certificate holders we will put into place a 36-month transition from the effective date of BS EN131-1:2015 and BS EN131-2:2010+A2:2017.'
Whilst our old national standard BS 2037 that covered domestic and industrial aluminium ladders will be withdrawn later this year, we are likely to see ladders made to this and previous EN131 versions available for some time to come. These products are perfectly safe and it will take time for manufacturers, distributors, and consumers to transition to the latest requirements.
In March 2015 a new standard was released for telescopic ladders called EN131-6. The national forward to the standard released by British Standards commented that that some of the tests were less demanding than those for conventional vertical ladders.
Since then the testing for EN131 has become more onerous and recently the CEN (European Committee for Standardisation) convened a working group to review the standard. We expect the committee to report its draft recommendations later this year.
Associated Standards
The committee has also has a working group working on EN131-4that covers hinged ladders that was originally published in 2007. Their work will focus on updating and aligning to dovetail with EN131 Part 1 and 2.
BS 8634 is a new standard in development for Roof Ladders. There are currently no standards for these commonly used products while there are both British and European standards for all other types of ladder. The Ladder Association has reported several organisations are participating in the project including roofing contractors, the construction industry and the aerial and satellite dish installation industry.
TELESCOPIC LADDERS WILL BE THE FIRST SPECIALIST LADDER STANDARD ALIGNED WITH THE NEWEN131 REVISION"
Podium Steps
The Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for Low-Level Work Platforms (LLWP's) has been superseded by British Standard BS 8620:2016. BS 8620 type-approved product should start to become available from April 2017.
Safety and performance criteria have been enhanced with a dimensional change to side protection and modification to two specific tests.
PASMA is quick to point out that the conversion of PAS 250 to a full British standard does not mean that existing PAS 250 compliant LLWPs are now obsolete.