This is the employer’s job. HSE says a competent person does it at fixed intervals, following the maker’s instructions, and records it. The sheet takes a ladder from its feet to its labels.
All ladders
Feet: not damaged or worn
Stiles: not twisted, bent or dented
Rungs: not cracked, worn, bent or loose
Tie rods: present and undamaged
Welded joints: no cracks or damage
Rivets tight, stays undamaged
Stability devices and accessories, per the maker
Stepladders
Locking mechanism
Platform
Steps or treads
Extension ladders
Sections held from moving against each other
Labels and storage
Label readable, inspection status shown
Marked EN 131 Professional for work use
Maintained and stored per the maker
Pre-use check or recorded inspection
This sheet is the recorded one. The daily check stays with the person on the ladder.
Pre-use check
By the user, each working day and after a drop. It needs no record. Any problem goes to a manager.
Detailed visual inspection
By a competent person, at fixed intervals. It ends in pass or quarantine, with a tag number and who was told.
Part of a scaffold
Inspected every seven days with the scaffold.
Fixed ladders
This sheet is for portable ladders and stepladders. Its feet, locks and extension lines do not fit a ladder fixed to a structure.
A fixed ladder still needs inspecting at suitable intervals where it can deteriorate, under regulation 12 of the Work at Height Regulations. Take the list from the maker’s instructions and your risk assessment, then change the items in Edit. A ladder or run of ladders rising 9 m or more also needs landing areas or rest platforms where reasonably practicable (Schedule 6).
Ladder checklist questions
Does HSE have a ladder inspection checklist?
HSE sets no form. Its guidance says what to look at, and this sheet follows it. The stepladder and label lines are the sheet’s own additions.
Is there a ladder inspection checklist PDF?
Yes. Add your logo and download this one as PDF to print, or as Word or Excel to change.
How often should a ladder be inspected?
A pre-use check each working day, which needs no record, and a detailed visual inspection at intervals from the maker’s instructions and your risk assessment. The law says suitable intervals and gives no figure. HSE’s own example for a ladder’s general condition is every few months or longer.
What happens when a ladder fails?
Take it out of use, tick Quarantine, tag it and tell whoever needs to know. A pass only says the ladder is sound, not that a ladder is the right equipment for the job.
