After a mechanic’s attempt to inspect the building’s roof, he noticed that a ladder that had previously been attached to the building, had come away from the wall and was no longer secure.

Following this discovery, our client recognised the issue was a significant safety risk to their building and contacted BASSE Solutions.

After initial contact from our client in December, BASSE Solutions mobilised a team to inspect and rectify the issue.

Using safe methods to temporarily secure the ladder to an existing man-safe structure to prevent further movement, whilst the team worked, we were able to access and review the issue thoroughly.

Upon investigation, our team discovered that the cause of failure was due to the ladder previously being fixed and attached to the cladding boards only and NOT the building structure itself, therefore allowing the ladder to become loose and unstable.

We noted a label on the ladder that stated the ladder was not in use. After calling the number on the label and speaking to Access Testing, they confirmed that they had observed in June that the tops bolts of the ladder weren’t secured and were missing.

With the cause of the issue clear, the BASSE team started working on a solution for our client. We removed several of the cladding boards and identified a new location to move the ladder to – where it could attach to the building structure.

After drilling and prepping the fixing points, the team used bolts, inch square pull plates and double nuts to lock the ladder tightly to the structure, alongside reattaching the earthing strap.

The previous holes from the original, unsafe fixing locations have been temporarily covered and BASSE Solutions has quoted to replace with new boarding.