What is access equipment?
Access equipment is the steps, ladders, podiums and towers used to reach above floor level. Each type has its own inspection requirement and its own limits on what it may be used for.
Ladders are for short-duration, light work where a safer option is not reasonably practicable, rather than a default. Podium steps and towers are the usual better answer for cleaning tasks.
Pre-use checks by the user, plus periodic recorded inspections, are both required. The pre-use check is the one that catches the damage that happened yesterday.
Towers must be erected by someone trained for that type, and a tower assembled by whoever was available is a structural risk rather than an administrative one.
In practice
A step ladder shared between three floors.
It lives on the ground floor. The cleaner on the second floor needs it twice a week and the lift is slow, so she improvises.
Equipment that is available in principle and inconvenient in practice produces exactly the behaviour it was bought to prevent.
Where the kit is kept is a safety decision, not a storage one.
What goes wrong in practice
- Ladders used for extended work where a podium was available.
- Pre-use checks not done, so damage from the previous job carries forward.
- Towers erected by untrained staff.