Engineer Expert Witness For Ladder Collapse
This was a mystery with very little evidence, except that someone had injured themselves as they fell out of his attic trapdoor after a portable stepladder failed. The only evidence was a report by an HSE inspector who photographed the offending ladder and noted marks on a wall. By the time DC White were called in, the ladder had been destroyed and the wall redecorated.
Working from the HSE report and a photograph of the ladder it was possible to show very clearly that, opened-out, the ladder was too short and barely reached the edge of the trapdoor frame. Standing on the ladder caused it to flex; it dislodged from the trapdoor frame; bounced against the adjacent wall, leaving marks and buckling under the climber’s weight.
The user was lucky to escape only with broken bones. He got a new (longer) ladder and a set of very clear instructions.
Engineer Expert Witness For Ladder Collapse
This was a mystery with very little evidence, except that someone had injured themselves as they fell out of his attic trapdoor after a portable stepladder failed. The only evidence was a report by an HSE inspector who photographed the offending ladder and noted marks on a wall. By the time DC White were called in, the ladder had been destroyed and the wall redecorated.
Working from the HSE report and a photograph of the ladder it was possible to show very clearly that, opened-out, the ladder was too short and barely reached the edge of the trapdoor frame. Standing on the ladder caused it to flex; it dislodged from the trapdoor frame; bounced against the adjacent wall, leaving marks and buckling under the climber’s weight.
The user was lucky to escape only with broken bones. He got a new (longer) ladder and a set of very clear instructions.
