The Ladder Association has raised “serious concerns” that unsafe and potentially dangerous ladders are being sold online to UK builders and consumers.
In research commissioned by the association, 70 percent of commercially available multi-use ladders tested did not meet “minimum safety requirements.”
Products that failed the tests, conducted in partnership with the independent Research and Test Center, included the top three listings on Amazon and eBay.
Products from B&Q, Ladders UK Direct and Toolstation passed the tests.
Reasons why the products were unsafe or non-compliant included buckling when a load was placed on them, or instability due to having too small a base width.
The Ladder Association said many of the products that failed the tests were labeled as complying with the relevant safety standard (EN131) when they did not. But it is difficult to hold some online sellers to account because they are “virtually anonymous,” the association said.
“While Trading Standards can investigate and take appropriate enforcement action against companies based in the UK, those operating outside the UK do not exist in current product safety law,” he explained.
The association called for “urgent action” from the UK government to make regulatory changes to make suppliers and online platforms accountable for the products they sell.
Chief executive Peter Bennett said the tests showed that a “significant number of ladders available on the market, and sold by the country’s largest online platforms, fall well short of basic safety requirements”.
“If the seller doesn’t care and has no threat of legal consequences because he’s virtually anonymous and based overseas, our current legal framework allows people’s lives to be put at risk,” he added. “This has to stop.”
Members of the Ladder Association include manufacturers, hire companies and training providers.
