Dangerous ladder bracket

In combination with the Profab Guard Rail Post GRP, the Profab Scaffold Ladder Bracket SLB allows a working platform to be assembled alongside a wall. No instructions, safety information or safe working-load information were supplied with the products. They should be used in accordance with OSH safe erection and use of scaffolding guidelines 6.5.2, but we still don’t like them.

In our view, the Profab Scaffold Ladder Bracket SLB is the most dangerous contraption we’ve encountered in years. We think it should be removed from sale.

This is how it works: you lean two ladders against the wall, then clip a bracket to each ladder and drop a guard rail post into each bracket. You then lay your own planks horizontally between the brackets and thread a backboard through loops in the supports.

We have 9 safety concerns about this set-up:

• The ladder rungs need to be at the same height for the planks to be level. That can be almost impossible to do if the ladders aren’t the same or if the ground isn’t level.
• There’s no method for securing the brackets to the ladder, or planks to the brackets, so an accident is possible if a plank becomes dislodged. And if someone stands on a plank that extends beyond the end of one bracket the opposite end could lift off and cause a major accident.
• The brackets can be installed overslung (outside the ladder) or underslung (between the ladder and the wall), but no instructions are supplied for this. The backboard support can only be installed if the brackets are installed outwards.
• Climbing on to the planks – where you have to climb up and then sideways over the end of a bracket – is difficult and potentially dangerous.
• There’s no diagonal bracing. Walking along the planks puts a sideways force on the assembly, which tends to twist the ladders away from the wall.
• It’s possible to exceed the “safe load” rating for the ladders – particularly if two people moved toward one end of the planks.
• There’s potential for both ladders to be pulled off the wall if the brackets are installed out from the ladders and not high enough or if someone falls back against the backboard.
• Because of the ladder angle, the distance to the wall varies with the height of the brackets. At low heights you have to lean in to reach the wall, which results in your feet pushing outwards on the planks.
• For the outside of the brackets to be positioned within the ladder feet, the brackets need to be installed at least 2.6m above ground level. For the backboard to be positioned within the ladder feet, the brackets need to be installed at least 3.4m above ground level.

These products aren’t cheap, either: the two brackets and two guard-rail posts you’d need for a platform would set you back $417.

• Our assessment: Bad.