Ladders are work equipment under PUWER and access equipment under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, so two regimes apply at once. Neither bans them. What the law does is make you justify the choice: a ladder is acceptable for low risk, short duration work, or where site features mean nothing better can be used, and the assessment has to say which of those applies.
Ladder checks: the two inspections, and why people confuse them
The pre-use check is done by the user, every time, before the ladder is used and after anything that might have damaged it. It is not recorded. The detailed visual inspection is done at intervals by a competent person, and it is recorded. A business that records the second and skips the first has the paperwork and not the safety, because most ladder defects appear between inspections.
What the ladder inspection checklist covers
Stiles for bends, splits and dents. Feet for wear, contamination and missing pads. Rungs for wear, looseness and grease. Locking mechanisms and stays. Platform and guardrails on step ladders. Labels and the marked maximum load. Any repair that has been attempted, because a ladder that has been welded or bolted back together is scrap. Anything failing goes out of service that day, physically tagged and removed rather than leant against a wall.
Ladder inspection frequency, and why the regulations name none
There is no statutory frequency. PUWER regulation 6 requires inspection at suitable intervals where equipment is exposed to conditions causing deterioration liable to result in dangerous situations, and suitable depends on how hard the ladder is worked and where it is kept. A ladder on a van in daily site use needs looking at far more often than one in a maintenance store.
Angle, footing and the practical rules
A leaning ladder is set at roughly 75 degrees, which is the 1 in 4 rule: one unit out for every four units up. It should be secured, normally tied at the top, and should extend about a metre above a landing place where it is used for access. Those are the details that make a ladder acceptable in an assessment, and the ones that get skipped when somebody is only going up for a minute.
Fixed access ladders, which are a different problem
A fixed access ladder is part of the structure rather than portable equipment, so it is inspected as part of the building or plant and it is where hoops and cages appear. Modern guidance has moved away from treating a cage as fall protection, because a cage does not arrest a fall, and fixed ladders on new installations are more often specified with a fall arrest system on a rail. An existing caged ladder is not automatically unsafe, but the assessment should not assume the cage is doing more than guiding.
A ladder inspection form and a ladder checklist: what has to be on them
The pre use check is the user's own and needs no paperwork: stiles, feet, rungs, locking mechanisms, the platform on a stepladder, and anything slippery on the rungs. The recorded inspection is different and is what the form is for, and it needs the ladder's own unique reference, its location, the date, the inspector, what was checked, the verdict and what was done with a failed ladder. A form that records a verdict and no reference cannot tell you which ladder passed, which is the whole point of tagging them. Keep failed ladders off site rather than in the corner, because the corner is where they come back from.
Questions people ask about ladder inspection
How often should ladders be inspected?
The regulations set no interval. A pre-use check is done every time by the user, and a recorded detailed inspection is carried out by a competent person at intervals suitable to how the ladder is used and stored.
What ladder angle should a leaning ladder be set at?
About 75 degrees, which is the 1 in 4 rule: one unit out from the wall for every four units of height.
Are ladders banned on construction sites?
No. They are permitted where the risk assessment shows the work is low risk and short duration, or where site features prevent the use of more suitable equipment.
Should ladders be tagged?
Tagging is not required by law. It is a common way of showing an inspection has happened, and it works only if the tag reflects a real inspection rather than a monthly ritual.
Does a ladder risk assessment have to be a separate document?
Not separate, and it does have to exist somewhere. Ladder use is work at height, so the assessment that covers the task should say why a ladder is the right equipment for it, which is the judgement the regulations actually ask for: short duration, light work, a place where a tower or a platform is not reasonably practicable. If your assessment for the task says nothing about the access equipment, then the choice of ladder has never been assessed, whatever inspection records exist. One paragraph in the task assessment is enough, and it is the paragraph an inspector looks for.