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Ladders at Water and Wastewater Plants A water or wastewater plant is a wet concrete campus with chemical rooms, clarifier walls and basin railings, and almost every ladder on site is fiberglass for a reason. Aluminum conducts, corrodes and gets condemned after a few years of washdown. Why Fiberglass, Not Aluminum Plant work mixes water, chlorine, caustic, polymer and electrical equipment in the same buildings. Aluminum is a conductor, and even where the work is not electrical, washdown water c …

Ladder Access in Cold Storage and Freezers A freezer room is a wet room that happens to be below zero. Every surface carries a film of condensation or ice, the aisles are narrow, the doors have raised tracks, and the work at the evaporator is directly overhead. Ladders that work fine on a dock fail badly in that room. Condensation Makes Every Surface Slick The floor in a cold room goes from wet to icy at the door line and stays that way. A ladder foot that sits on that film will slide under the …

Ladders for Restaurant and Hotel Maintenance A restaurant or hotel maintenance tech works in spaces that were never designed for a ladder: a service corridor with a cart turning in it, a guest bathroom with a 7 foot ceiling, a kitchen with a hood at chin height and grease on every surface. The right ladder here is the one that fits, not the one with the highest rating. Gear That Fits a Service Corridor A 6 foot stepladder is the backbone of hospitality maintenance. It handles ceiling tiles, lig …

Ladder Safety for Home Inspectors A home inspector works alone, on a house nobody has looked at yet, with a camera in one hand and a schedule that does not allow for a second setup. The roof is a ten minute visit and the ladder is the whole day, which makes ladder choice the single biggest safety decision in the trade. Ten Minutes on the Roof, Six Hours on the Ladder Most inspection falls happen at the transition, not out on the field: stepping off the top of a ladder onto a roof, or swinging a …

Ladder Setups for Window Cleaning and Pressure Washing Window cleaning and pressure washing both put water exactly where a ladder needs grip. The setup that works on a dry framing job does not survive a wet slab, a soapy rung and a hose lying under one foot, and the trade does this every day. Water on the Rungs Wet aluminum rungs with a film of soap are the most common slip source in window work, and it is the worker's own hands and boots that put the water there. Wipe the rungs before climbing …