Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Research reports
Various legislative and guidance documents specify ladder safety
hoops on fixed access ladders, (alternatively rendered as caged
ladders), and give the impression that the purpose of the hoops is
to protect workers from falling to the ground or other platform.
Previous research has indicated that there is virtually a total
lack of knowledge in regard to ladder safety hoops, and in
conjunction with anecdotal accident evidence and a lack of test
methods, uncertainties have been raised by persons conducting
working at height risk assessments as to whether safety hoops can
provide any form of fall-arresting capability.
The overall aim of this preliminary investigation was to update the
current state of knowledge and understanding in regard to what
ladder safety hoops actually are, what their intended purpose is,
and to establish by preliminary testing whether or not they could
provide any form of fall-arresting capability.
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