Ladder inspection: what the regulations say, what to check and how to show it was done

01

The duty: the OHS Act and regulation 13A

Ladders are plant. Section 1 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 says plant "includes fixtures, fittings, implements, equipment, tools and appliances", and section 8(2)(a) requires every employer to provide and maintain "systems of work, plant and machinery that, as far as is reasonably practicable, are safe and without risks to health". Section 8(2)(e) adds the information, instructions, training and supervision needed to keep employees safe, and section 9(1) extends the duty to people who are not the employer's employees, such as contractors' staff, tenants and visitors walking under a ladder in a foyer.

The only national regulation written about ladders is regulation 13A of the General Safety Regulations, 1986 (Government Notice R1031 of 1986, regulation 13A inserted in 1988). In summary it requires that:

• every ladder is made of sound material and suitable for the purpose it is used for, and is either fitted with non-skid devices at the bottom and hooks or similar devices at the top of the stiles, or is lashed, held or secured while in use so that it stays stable (regulation 13A(1));
• no ladder is used that has rungs fastened to the stiles only by nails, screws, spikes or the like, or rungs not properly let into the stiles (welded, bolted and riveted rungs excepted), or that "has damaged stiles, or damaged or missing rungs" (13A(2));
• a ladder leaned against something for support is not longer than 9 m, and two or more ladders are not fastened together to extend their reach without an inspector's approval; the regulation says this "shall not apply to extension of free-standing ladders" (13A(3));
• a wooden ladder is made of straight-grained wood free from defects, and is not painted or covered unless it has been established that there are no cracks or other weaknesses, though oil, clear varnish or wood preservative are allowed (13A(4));
• when work is done from a ladder, special precautions are taken to stop things falling, with sheaths or holders for hand tools not in use (13A(5));
• a fixed ladder more than 5 m long, attached to a vertical structure at 75 degrees or more, has its rungs at least 150 mm from the structure and a back cage, unless rest platforms are provided no more than 8 m apart (13A(6)).

Regulation 6 of the same regulations forbids work in an elevated position unless it is "performed safely from a ladder or scaffolding, or from a position where such person has been made as safe as if he were working from scaffolding".

Ladder work that is part of construction work, such as alterations, renovation or repair of a building, also falls under the Construction Regulations, 2014. Regulation 10 requires the contractor to have a competent person prepare a fall protection plan covering every fall risk position, including "the procedure addressing the inspection, testing and maintenance of all fall protection equipment".

02

What to check on a ladder

A ladder inspection is a hands-on look at the whole ladder, done with it fully extended or opened on firm, level ground. Clean off mud and grease first, because they hide cracks. For every ladder, check:

• Stiles (the side rails): not bent, bowed, twisted, dented, split or cracked; no corrosion on aluminium or steel; no splits, rot or splinters on wood.
• Rungs and treads: none missing, loose, bent, cracked, worn smooth or showing other wear; each firmly fixed to both stiles, never held only by nails or screws; free of oil, grease and mud.
• Feet: non-skid feet or end caps present, not worn through or split, and not packed with dirt or stones.
• Top: hooks, end caps or a stand-off in place on a leaning ladder; nothing missing that stops it sliding sideways.
• Fixings: rivets, bolts and welds tight and whole, with no cracked welds or sheared rivets.
• Labels and markings: the manufacturer's label with the maximum load and the standard it was made to is still readable, as is the ladder's own number or tag.
• Wooden ladders: straight grain, no paint hiding the timber, no cracks.
• Anything home-made or repaired: rungs nailed on or stiles splinted with wire or tape. Take them out of use.

Then check the parts that belong to the type of ladder:

• Stepladders: spreaders or locking bars that lock fully, hinges not bent or loose, the platform or top cap sound, and the ladder standing square without rocking.
• Extension ladders: guide brackets, rung locks and latches that engage properly, and the rope and pulley not frayed, knotted or seized.
• Fixed ladders, such as roof access, plant room, reservoir and lift motor room ladders: fixings to the wall sound, no corrosion at the base, the landing at the top clear and, on a fixed ladder more than 5 m long at 75 degrees or steeper, rungs at least 150 mm from the wall and the cage whole and secure unless rest platforms no more than 8 m apart are provided.

A ladder that fails any of these is taken out of use at once, marked as defective and stored where nobody can pick it up, until it is repaired to the manufacturer's standard or destroyed.

03

Who inspects, and how often

Ladder inspections usually happen at two levels, and a workplace needs both:

1. The pre-use check, done by the person about to climb, every time. The worker who finds a fault must report it: section 14(d) of the Act requires every employee to report an unsafe or unhealthy situation "as soon as practicable" to the employer or the health and safety representative.
2. The detailed inspection, done by someone the employer has trained and named for the job, such as the maintenance supervisor, the caretaker or the SHE officer, at set intervals. They check every item above on every ladder, record the result and take defective ladders out of use.

No South African regulation sets the interval for the detailed inspection. Set it in your hazard identification and risk assessment, based on how often each ladder is used, where and by whom: a ladder the maintenance team uses regularly in a plant room, or that travels in a bakkie between sites, needs looking at far more often than one in a store room used twice a year. Most organisations also inspect a ladder after anything that could have damaged it: a fall, a vehicle knock, being dropped, exposure to chemicals, or coming back from a contractor.

A health and safety representative may inspect the workplace, including equipment, "at such intervals as may be agreed upon with the employer" under section 18(1)(g) of the Act; that does not replace the employer's own inspection.

04

Buying the right ladder, and using it safely

Inspection only works on a ladder that was suitable in the first place. Regulation 13A(1) requires every ladder to be "suitable for the purpose for which it is used". The South African standard for portable ladders is SANS 50131-2:2018, Ladders Part 2: Requirements, testing, marking, the national adoption of EN 131-2, which specifies the design features, requirements and test methods for portable ladders. Like any SANS standard it is voluntary unless a regulation or a contract calls it up, but a ladder made and marked to it gives the inspector a label and a load rating to check against.

Inspection is only half of ladder safety; the other half is how the ladder is used. The rules that follow from regulation 13A and ordinary good practice are:

• use a ladder only for short, light work and use a mobile scaffold or platform for anything longer or heavier (good practice; regulation 6 requires only that elevated work is done safely from a ladder, scaffolding or an equally safe position);
• stand a leaning ladder on firm, level ground, secured at the top or footed by a second person, and never lean one longer than 9 m;
• never join two ladders to gain height without an inspector's approval;
• carry tools in a holster or tool belt, and keep the area below the ladder cordoned off where people pass;
• never use a ladder that has failed its pre-use check, and never put it back in the store without reporting it.

05

The ladder register and inspection record

An inspector, insurer, client's SHE auditor or the health and safety committee will want to see that you know what ladders you have and that each one has been checked. The usual evidence is:

• A ladder register: every ladder numbered, with its type, material, length, the standard it is marked with, where it is kept and who is responsible for it. Fixed ladders go on the register too.
• An inspection record for each detailed inspection: the ladder's number, the date, the name of the inspector, each item passed or failed, and the action taken.
• A tag or label on each ladder showing its number and the date of the last detailed inspection, so a user can see at the foot of the ladder that it has been checked.
• Defects and disposal: which ladders were taken out of use, when, why, and whether they were repaired or destroyed.
• Training: who has been shown how to do a pre-use check and how to use a ladder safely, which is part of the section 8(2)(e) duty.

The weak point is almost always the gap between the register and the ladders themselves. An inspection sheet with every box ticked on a day the ladder was out on another site is worse than no record.

06

Where the record fails, and what SiteClara does about it

Ladder records usually fail in the same ways. The inspection sheet is filled in at the desk from memory, with the month's ticks added at once. The ladder with the bent stile is leaned against the wall of the store room with a note on it, and the next person takes it anyway. The fault is mentioned to whoever happened to be passing, and nobody knows whether it was repaired or thrown away.

SiteClara records routine checks where they happen. A printed QR poster, with an optional NFC tag behind it, sits at each location, such as the ladder store, the plant room, the roof access hatch or the caretaker's workshop. The maintenance team or the caretaker scans or taps on their own phone, with no app to install, sees the checks due at that location, and marks each one done or says what stopped them, with a photo when one is asked for. The time and the named person are recorded as it happens. A defective ladder reported there goes onto the team's list of open jobs until someone closes it.

The supervisor sees what was due, done and missed, gives the reason a check was missed, and approves a daily report that goes to the facilities manager, managing agent or other nominated contacts at 8am the next morning.

07

Questions people ask

How often do ladders need to be inspected in South Africa?

No national regulation sets a frequency. Check a ladder before every use, and set the interval for a detailed, recorded inspection in your risk assessment: regulation 2(1) of the General Safety Regulations as amended in 2025 requires employers to evaluate the risk of any condition their people are exposed to and take the steps needed to make it safe. Base the interval on how much the ladder is used and where, with an extra inspection after anything that could have damaged it.

How do you inspect a ladder?

Open or extend it on level ground, clean it, and check the stiles, rungs or treads, feet, top hooks or caps, locks, hinges and fixings for damage, looseness, corrosion or missing parts, and that the manufacturer's label is readable. Regulation 13A(2) of the General Safety Regulations, 1986 forbids employers to use or permit the use of a ladder that has damaged stiles, damaged or missing rungs, or rungs fastened to the stiles only by nails, screws or spikes.

What is the maximum length of a leaning ladder?

9 metres. Regulation 13A(3) of the General Safety Regulations, 1986 forbids an employer to permit a ladder that is leaned against an object for support to be used if it is longer than 9 m; the subregulation says it does not apply to "extension of free-standing ladders".

08

Where to read the official text, and a list to take away

The Act is on gov.za (Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993). The Department of Employment and Labour publishes the General Safety Regulations, 1986 and the Construction Regulations, 2014, and the 2025 amendment is Government Notice 5954 of 6 March 2025. The ladder standard is sold by the SABS as SANS 50131-2:2018. Check for the current text before relying on an old copy. To take away:

• every ladder, portable and fixed, is numbered and on a register that matches what is actually in the building;
• the interval for detailed inspections is set in the risk assessment, and the person who does them is trained and named;
• each detailed inspection is recorded with the ladder's number, the date, the inspector and the result;
• everyone who uses a ladder knows how to do a pre-use check and how to report a fault;
• defective ladders are taken out of use at once and repaired or destroyed, never left leaning in the store;
• contractors' ladders are on their own register in the safety file.