The Temporary Work at Height Directive
[Directive 2001/45/EC (amended Council Directive 89/655/EEC)]

The European Council and Parliament formally adopted this Directive (which is the second amending Directive to the Use of Working Equipment Directive) on 14th June 2001 and published it in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 19th July 2001. Member States have until 19 July 2004 to transpose the Directive into national law and a further, optional 2 year transitional period - until July 2006 - before the new requirements need to come fully into force.

The Directive covers all access equipment used for temporary work at heights with specific requirements covering scaffolding, ladders and rope access equipment and positioning techniques (such as boatswains' chairs and similar equipment used offshore).

Users are required to select suitable and safe access equipment on the basis of a risk assessment and to provide measures to prevent or arrest falls from a height. Collective protection measures such as safety nets should be given priority over personal protective equipment such as safety harnesses. The Directive sets a hierarchy for the selection of access equipment such that ladders and rope access will only be used if the use of other safer work equipment such as scaffolding is not justified e.g. because of the short duration of the work or particular features of the site.

The Directive requires that Ladders should be positioned and secured in order to ensure that they are stable and do not slip during use. They should also be used safely i.e. in such a way that a secure handhold and secure support are always available.

Specific provisions regarding the use of ladders: -

Ladders must be so positioned as to ensure their stability during use. Portable ladders must rest on a stable, strong, suitably sized, immobile footing so that the rungs remain horizontal. Suspended ladders must be attached in a secure manner and, with the exception of rope ladders, so that they cannot be displaced and so that swinging is prevented.

The feet of portable ladders must be prevented from slipping during use by securing the stiles at or near their upper or lower ends, by any anti-slip device or by any other arrangement of equal effectiveness. Ladders used for access must be long enough to protrude sufficiently beyond the access platform, unless other measures have been taken to ensure a firm handhold. Interlocking ladders and extension ladders must be used so that the different sections are prevented from moving relative to one another. Mobile ladders must be prevented from moving before they are stepped on.

Ladders must be used in such a way that a secure handhold and secure support are available to workers at all times. In particular, if a load has to be carried by hand on a ladder, it must not preclude the maintenance of a safe handhold.