If you want to go high, you can fall deep. A high degree of occupational safety is therefore particularly important in climbing technology.

According to the BG Bau, almost half of all fatal accidents at work in the construction industry can be attributed to falls. Occupational safety and accident prevention play a major role in construction sites.

Ladders and scaffolding for private and commercial use must meet high requirements in this regard.

The latest innovations on the subject came into force with the EN 131 standard, which stipulates, among other things, a widening of the stand (traverse) from a certain length of the ladder and more stringent product tests.

Irrespective of this, the right type of ladder can be used to ensure greater safety when working at some height. It makes sense that working on the platform of a mobile scaffold, which is enclosed with a surrounding railing, is safer than at the same height on the top steps of a leaning extension ladder.

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The disadvantage of the scaffolding is the higher effort for assembly and disassembly as well as for transportation. A ladder, on the other hand, is usually ready for use in a few simple steps and relatively easy to maneuver.

What is Platform Ladder? How it can provide more safety and flexibility?

A platform ladder offers a compromise between a high level of comfort and maximum safety on the one hand and the greatest possible flexibility on the other hand.

Platform ladders are step ladders with additional safety equipment and, like most step ladders, can also be folded to save space.

Also known from many stepladders is an overhanging safety bar, which you can hold on to and which enables you to climb the top steps.

The special features of platform ladders include double-sided handrails on the bars of the climbing part and the possibility of firmly locking the ladder in place.

Also Read: Advantages & Disadvantages of different ladder materials.

Ordinary step ladders have expansion protection (e.g. with a belt strap), but in case of doubt, this does not prevent the ladder from collapsing again. The more complex the construction of the platform ladder, the more extensive the protection on the ladder platform can be.

So the handrails can pass into a U-shaped railing, which in turn is attached to the protective bar. Some engineering is required to build everything in such a way that it can still be folded up to save space. There are also 2 man ladder stand models available.

A platform ladder is closer to the scaffold than to a step ladder to locate. As with scaffolding, we can already speak of a work platform on which there is a certain freedom of movement.

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As a rule, the larger platform ladders are rigid, ie it is not intended to be folded up or dismantled quickly. Platform ladders are therefore not intended for mobile use, but as operating equipment in warehouses, magazines, archives, workshops, production facilities, etc. Thanks to casters, the platform ladder can be easily moved from one place of operation to another within the company.

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Platform ladders are by no means only available for large working heights because most crashes happen from a low height.

The supposedly simple task then leads to inattentiveness or – even more fatal – the choice of improvised climbing aid.

Even simple rung ladders are only considered to be of limited safety today. Wherever a given set-up angle makes this possible, lower steps with a level tread are the first choice.

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In the case of platform ladders, the steps lead to the platform intended for lingering or working, where, thanks to sufficient tread and railing, it is even possible to work with both hands.