On 16 March, the ETUC was invited to present the findings and recommendations from its recent study on ladder safety (2022) at the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Industrial Cleaning. At the meeting, UNI Europa – representing the workers in the cleaning sector - and the European Cleaning and Facility Services Industry (EFCI) discussed the next steps in relation to standardization.
Accidents with ladders are the second deadliest type of work accident. At the event, the ETUC addressed the difficulties surrounding ladder safety, namely the lack of a pan-European legislation and the fragmented legislative landscape at the national level, with many different regulations and agreements. Moreover, standardization has its limits in addressing ladder safety, as it cannot (and should not) address training, misuse and when ladders should be used. Adding to these challenges are the decreasing numbers of labor inspections, and the placing of ladders on the market that are non-compliant with existing European standards.
The ETUC is involved in the European standardization work on ladders (CEN/TC 93) and coordinates with EFBWW and UNI Europa to reduce the numbers of fall accidents. UNI Europa affiliated trade unions from across Europe sent letters to several national standardization boards to raise their concern regarding ladder safety.
Giovanni COLLOT
gcollot@cencenelec.eu
