Of everything a trades business owns, the ladder is the odd one out: cheap enough to forget, dangerous enough that forgetting it can end up in a courtroom. A drill that goes untracked costs money; a ladder with a cracked stile and no inspection record costs considerably more if someone falls from it. Ladder tracking is therefore two jobs in one - knowing where every ladder is, and being able to prove every ladder in use has been inspected and passed. This guide builds the register that does both.
What you will learn
- A safety asset, not just kit
- The ladder register
- Tagging ladders that live on roof racks
- Recording inspections from a phone
- Who has which ladder
- Tools that make this easier
- FAQ
A safety asset, not just kit
Ladders carry a duty most equipment does not. Working-at-height rules in most jurisdictions expect employers to keep access equipment in safe condition and to be able to show it - which in practice means recorded inspections tied to identifiable ladders. That changes what “tracking” means:
- Identity is mandatory. “We inspected the ladders in March” is worthless if no one can say which ladders. Each one needs its own ID before any inspection regime means anything.
- The record is the compliance. An inspection that exists only in the inspector’s memory does not exist. The evidence - date, findings, name - has to land on the specific ladder’s record.
- Condition gates use. A ladder is either cleared for use or it is withdrawn. There is no “probably fine” status, and the register has to make the withdrawn ones impossible to mistake for good ones.
Losses still matter - ladders left at jobs and lifted from racks are a steady drain - but the safety record is the part with teeth.
The ladder register
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Asset ID | The identity every inspection and assignment hangs off - shown on the tag |
| Type | Step, extension, combination, roof ladder - each with different failure points |
| Material | Aluminium near electrical work is a hazard; the register should know which is which |
| Length + duty rating | Whether it is the right ladder for the job, and what replacing it costs |
| Purchase date | Age is context for inspection findings and replacement planning |
| Current location or holder | Which van, site, or store - the everyday question |
| Inspection history | Dates, findings, inspector, photos - the audit trail with legal weight |
| Condition notes | The slow story between inspections: dings, stiffness, wear |
| Status | Cleared for use, in repair, retired - the field that keeps bad ladders grounded |
Larger access equipment follows the same pattern with heavier inspection duties - see scaffolding tracking for that end of the spectrum.
Tagging ladders that live on roof racks
A ladder spends its life outdoors, strapped to racks, dragged over walls and hosed down. Tag accordingly:
- Durable QR tags on the inside face of the stile, near the foot - readable without lifting the ladder down, sheltered from rack straps and wall contact.
- Laminated polyester or rigid tag holders over paper stickers, which fade in UV and peel in rain within a season.
- Tag every section of extension and combination ladders. Sections separate on vans and in stores; an orphaned section with no tag belongs to nobody and gets used anyway.
- Print the ID large. A tag that can be read from the ground saves lifting a ladder off the rack just to identify it.
Tip: photograph each ladder, full length, when it is tagged. When a ladder comes back from a job with a bend that “was always like that”, the photo on its record ends the discussion.
Recording inspections from a phone
Inspection regimes fail on paperwork, not diligence - the checks happen, the records scatter. Putting the record behind the tag fixes that:
- Scan the tag at the ladder. The right record is open; there is no transcribing IDs onto a form and matching them up later.
- Log the inspection as an entry - date, pass or fail, findings, inspector. Photograph any defect rather than describing it.
- Fail means quarantine. Status flips to “in repair” or “retired” on the spot, and the ladder physically leaves circulation. The status change is logged, which is precisely the evidence “we withdrew it immediately” needs.
- Review the gaps. A periodic look across the register for ladders with no recent inspection entry catches the ladder that has been at the same job for eight months, unseen and unchecked.
Pre-use checks by the climber stay quick and informal - their job is to catch damage between formal inspections, and anything they find goes in as a reported issue.
Who has which ladder
Ladders are uniquely bad at coming home. They are awkward to load, so they stay leaning against the wall for the next visit that never comes; they live on roof racks, so they migrate with whichever van drove off with them. The fix is the same assignment discipline as any shared kit: every ladder is in the store or assigned to one van, site or person, moves are recorded as transfers, and the overdue and still-out list gets a regular look. At job close-out, ladders assigned to the site are either collected or formally transferred to the next job - never just remembered. The same habit applied across the rest of the kit is covered in how to keep track of company tools.
Tools that make this easier
A spreadsheet ladder register has a fatal mismatch: inspections happen in yards and on sites, and the sheet lives in the office. Findings get jotted, transcription gets postponed, and the register ends up proving only that record-keeping was attempted - while the inspection card on the ladder and the sheet in the office quietly disagree.
An asset management tool like AMPthilly closes that gap: each ladder has a profile with its type, rating, photos and documents; the printable QR tag opens that profile in any phone browser at the foot of the ladder, with no app to install; issues are reported with photos and stay on the ladder’s history permanently; status changes and edits land in the audit history; and assignments to vans, sites or people are logged events with due dates. The free plan covers 3 users and 25 assets - most firms’ entire ladder stock - and the rest of the platform is on the features page.
FAQ
How often should ladders be inspected? Pre-use checks every time, formal recorded inspections at intervals set by your regulations, insurer and usage - recorded against the specific ladder, or they may as well not have happened.
What should a ladder register include? ID, type, material, length and duty rating, purchase date, current location, condition notes, status, and the full inspection history with photos.
What is a ladder tag system? A tag on the stile showing identity and inspection status. A QR tag opens the ladder’s complete record from a phone instead of a written card.
How do you track ladders across vans and sites? Assign ladders to vans and sites, record transfers, and use the still-out list at every job close-out.
What should happen to a ladder that fails inspection? Immediate quarantine: status to “in repair” or “retired”, defect logged with photos, ladder physically out of circulation.
The takeaway
A ladder register earns its keep twice: it brings ladders home from jobs, and it produces the inspection evidence that protects the people climbing them and the business that owns them. Tag every ladder and every section, log inspections at the ladder through the tag, quarantine failures the moment they are found, and keep every ladder assigned to a name, van or site. None of it is complicated - it just has to be recorded where the ladder actually stands.