Last week we were delighted to attend the Trade Association Forum (TAF) Awards in London. As a TAF member for a number of years now, we were proud to be shortlisted for ‘Sector Representation of the Year’ as a result of our successful collaborations with the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), Trading Standards, and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on several key initiatives designed to tackle falls from height when using ladders.

We might not have left with an award on the night, but it’s given us a few days to reflect on all the other great things we achieved in 2021/22, and it’s a mighty long list:

• Celebrated our 75th anniversary last year with our busiest Ladder Conference to date;
• Smashed our training figures with over 13,400 LadderCards issued in 2022 (the highest ever in our history!);
• Reached 79 members, across 3 continents;
• Exceeded all expectations having over 4,000 people join our ladder safety webinar LIVE;
• Launched joint guidance ‘LA 455‘ with the Health and Safety Executive, and released our updated Code of Practice;
• Released our Telescopic Ladder Surveillance Survey Report to highlight the issues of substandard telescopic ladders in the UK;
• Carried out proactive industry research into Roof Ladder use;
• Launched e-learning course options in response to the pandemic and changing learning habits;
• Launched a ‘Ladders for Managers‘ course and updated our ‘Steps and Step Stools‘ course;
• Appointed our first ever female Chairman, Gail Hounslea;
• Been shortlisted for ‘Sector Representation of the Year’ at the Trade Association Forum Awards 2023;
• Awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the Business category at the Office for Product Safety and Standards Regulatory Excellence Awards 2022;
• Pledged our support to the Access Industry Forum’s ‘Save the Work at Height Regulations’ campaign;
• Continued to support the No Falls Foundation, making a donation every time someone gets Ladder Association training;
• We even got name-checked on BBC One’s Saturday primetime celebrity game show ‘The Wheel’!

WOW! That’s alot to be proud of! We couldn’t have achieved all those great things without the support of industry, our hardworking team and of course, our Members, who fly the flag for ladder safety on a daily basis – thank you!

We look forward to the same successes in 2023 and beyond – and expect to see us back at the TAF Awards in 2024!

The Ladder Association Team