A new safety report by the Ladder Association has highlighted the ongoing issue of unsafe and potentially dangerous ladders sold online in the UK.
The report is a follow-up to the 2022 telescopic ladder market surveillance study, which found that over 80% of commercially available telescopic ladders failed to meet minimum safety requirements, with over half marked as ‘compliant’ to mislead customers deliberately.
Despite previous campaigning, the problem persists, prompting the Ladder Association to re-test the same products from last year’s study, purchased from well-known online retailers such as Amazon, eBay, and OnBuy.com.
Shockingly, every set of telescopic ladders failed the required safety tests, with over 80% falsely claiming compliance with the EN 131 product standard.
Peter Bennett OBE, Executive Director of the Ladder Association, said: “Our latest report clearly shows that the issue of unsafe telescopic ladders available for sale on the UK market is neither new nor improving. We also know the issue is not constrained to our sector.”
Online marketplaces selling products supplied by third-party sellers currently have no responsibility for preventing unsafe goods from being sold on their platforms and no legal obligation to inform consumers if they have purchased dangerous goods. This allows rogue manufacturers and suppliers to sell unsafe products directly to unsuspecting buyers in the UK, often without any checks made before delivery.
Bennett continued: “The Ladder Association is calling for the Government to step in urgently to make regulatory changes to hold suppliers and online platforms accountable for ensuring the products they sell are compliant and safe to use.”
The association is also urging the government to release the long-awaited Product Safety Review, which is expected to contain proposals to protect people from buying dangerous products from online marketplaces.
To view the latest Telescopic Ladder Surveillance Survey Report, visit: https://ladderassociation.org.uk/step-up/
