Podium Steps: What Are They?

Sightings of the lesser-spotted stepladder have been greatly reduced since hired podium steps started to appear in larger numbers. After the WAHR drew our attention to the dangers of working at any height, more and more subcontractors are hiring podium steps and turning away from ladders.

Stepladders are history: podium steps rule the roost because they offer safe, easy access to jobs at height, and considerable reduce the chances of falling. Astonishingly, falls from under a metre accounted for 69 deaths in the year before the WAHR came in - makes you think, doesn't it?

The WAHR recommend using platforms that offer a good working position that doesn't put undue stresses on the body - which is the whole purpose of the podium step. Whereas stepladders can force a worker to over-stretch, twist or hunker over to access the space they're working on, hired podium steps are safer and provide a much better working environment, which allows them to move naturally. Hiring podium steps makes sense commerically and with your safety record in mind. If you are in a natural position you will be able to complete the work faster and to a higher standard. With a guardrail protecting the platform, a trip stays just that - a stumble - not a trip to the hospital and six weeks in plaster and out of pocket.

In the last couple of years, many site contractors require subcontractors to hire podium steps instead of stepladders, so the site maintains a good safety record, and, of course, so everyone on site stays safe and able to do their job.

So what exactly are podium steps? The most useful type of podium step you can hire mimics the stepladder and comes as a one-piece item, which folds down for portability. They are the same height as a regular set of steps, but, to provide a solid base, they are wider.

The rectangular wheel-base is locked into place, so the steps are fixed allowing you confidence to work at height. There are podium steps with anti-slip work platforms available for hire that raise through 4 different levels. The guardrail and gate that encloses the platform make you much safer: something a mate of mine could have done with in the States last year when he fell from the top of a stepladder and broke both wrists. Lesson learnt!

In just 15 seconds a set of podium steps are ready to give you a stretch-free, hunch-free day of work?

With lockable wheels on the base and narrow enough to fit through a standard door the podium steps enable you to easily access all of your work without having to shunt and carry tools and materials between areas of work, simply push the whole hired platform to the next section and carry on work.


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Matt Browne, managing director of Lakeside-Hire.co.uk, draws on his 20 years' experience in the construction industry to share his knowledge of working at height solutions using podium steps and scaffold towers. His aim is to help you work safely especially when you're off the ground. Get in touch to see how podium step hire - with Lakeside-Hire - can help you.