Ladders have become very important in our working environment. As per Australian Standard for portable and fixed ladders (AS-1892), ladder inspections should be conducted periodically to ensure that the ladder is safe to work on. A ladder inspection can and will prevent injury to you and the people around you and comply with OH&S legislation. All ladders should be inspected at regular intervals when not in use and preferably a visual safety inspection before each episode of use.
Over a period of time, ladders will be worn or damaged and becoming safety hazards to employees who working in heights. Ladder inspection in regular scheduled intervals will identify any safety hazards, and will allow the ladders hazards to be rectified and repaired. Statistic from the United State and Australia relating injuries that have been caused by ladders have shown that:
- More than 90,000 people receive emergency room treatment for ladder-related injuries every year in the USA;
- Elevated falls account for over 500 occupational deaths annually;
- Over the last 10 years the amount of ladder-related injuries has increased 50%;
- The most common type of ladder-related injury, accounting for 32%, is fractures;
Digital recording of ladder inspections is fast and effective method of managing the inspections and ensuring ladders are safe within the work environment. By identify hazards you ultimately providing the workplace with a safe environment protecting the well being of your employees, reducing cost and downtime (e.g medical bills, insurance premiums etc.) and also saving paper. Using mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad or tablet, with ladder inspection application will save time and money in managing the ladder inspections. Using the mobile device features such as camera, touch screen and speech to text capabilities will save time in recording the ladder inspection findings and managing the required corrective actions.
The ladder inspection application can make reference material (e.g. AS-1892), available on the device. Past inspections results, instructions, images and user manuals can be available with-in the ladder inspection application to assist the safety inspector with recording the findings and recommend the safest course of actions. Ladder inspection application should be easy to use, intuitive and available on all platforms of mobile devices (iOS and Android devices).