The Ladder Association is delighted to announce that we received the award of ‘Highly Commended’ in the Business category at the recent Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) Regulatory Excellence Awards 2022.
The annual awards recognise individuals, teams, or organisations who have made a significant contribution to making regulation work. Our award is the result of a successful ongoing collaboration between the Ladder Association, East of England Trading Standards Association (EETSA), Suffolk Trading Standards Imports Team and the Test & Research Centre, which saw us undertake telescopic ladder market surveillance and testing, and culminated in the release of our report, “Step Up to Safe Ladders”.
The Telescopic Ladder Surveillance Survey investigated the conformity of a sample of imported telescopic ladders, obtained anonymously from a range of sources (online stores, marketplaces, physical stores and detained at Port), against product standard EN 131-6.
Of the 17 ladders put through a series of safety critical tests, only 3 fully passed all of the tests designed to keep users safe.
5 telescopic ladders in this project have so far been added to the OPSS Product Safety Alerts, Reports and Recalls list. We expect that number to increase significantly, as more of the failed ladders identified in this surveillance study are added to the list.
Peter Bennett OBE, Executive Director of the Ladder Association, commented: “We are delighted to be recognised in this year’s Regulatory Excellence Awards. Making sure consumers are safe is our number one priority and we are committed to raising awareness of potentially harmful ladders. We hope our research, conducted in partnership with Trading Standards, gives consumers an increased awareness around the issue and enables us to undertake further proactive surveillance projects.”
This year’s award is the second success at the Regulatory Excellence Awards for the Ladder Association, having won ‘Business of the Year’ in 2019.
Another fantastic accolade for the Ladder Association!
