Working at height is a hazardous business - obviously. You don't need us to tell you to be careful when you're standing at the the top of a 20ft ladder or on the roof of a multi-storey building. You know, instinctively, the danger such a situation poses.

What you might not realise is how broad the definition of 'working at height' actually is. You don't have to be all that far off the ground to be at risk - guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that 'work at height' means "work in any place where, if there were no precautions in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury".

Even a short drop can result in serious injuries, so before you - or your employees - enter any situation where work at height is necessary, it's important to 1) think about what could go wrong, and 2) take steps to minimise working at height risks.

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Ladders don't have 'expiration dates' as such, but it is true that a ladder can only be used for so long before it becomes unreliable and unsafe. Climbing a rickety old ladder that's no longer fit for purpose may result in a nasty fall.

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Cast your mind back to the beginning of 2018: Theresa May was Prime Minister, everyone was falling in love with that man-fish thing from The Shape of Water, and the word 'covid' was still a couple of years from meaning anything at all.

It was around this time that the EN131 ladder regulations were updated and a number of new rules came into force regarding the design and manufacture of portable ladders. You can read our blog about EN131 if you want all the details - for now, there's one specific rule we'd like to focus on:

Leaning ladders, telescopic ladders and hinge-jointed ladders longer than 3 metres must be wider at the base to make them more stable.

- from the Ladder Association's updated EN131 guidance

The easiest way to make a ladder wider at its base is to fit it with a stabiliser bar. When the updated EN131 regulations came into effect, most British ladder manufacturers started fitting all of their ladders with a stabiliser bar as standard.

So a ladder without a stabiliser bar can be a difficult thing to find nowadays - and even if you could find one, it wouldn't necessarily be safe to use. Still, if you're absolutely determined to get your hands on a ladder with no stabiliser bar, you do have a few options...

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Falling off a ladder can result in some very serious injuries, so before you put your foot on that first rung, it's important to make sure that the risk of a fall is as low as possible.

For example, if you're planning to use the type of ladder that leans against a wall, you must first ensure that the ladder is properly stabilised.

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Need a bit of extra height while working? A ladder isn't always the most practical solution - sometimes, it's both quicker and safer to use a hop-up work platform.

When trying to complete a task or access an item that’s just out of reach, sometimes a ladder isn’t always the best option. Hop-up steps are quick and easy to use, and give you the boost you need to get your task done quickly and efficiently.

There are a variety of different designs when it comes to hop-up steps, so no matter what the task at hand is, there’s a hop up step suited to you and your needs. Hop-up steps are undoubtedly a handy reaching tool, but how do you know which hop-up step is right for you?

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