How to Secure a Ladder: Tying Off, Footing and Stopping Movement at the Top

Securing a ladder means stopping it moving in three directions: sliding out at the base, slipping sideways at the top, and twisting under you as you shift your weight. The strongest method is tying the stiles to a fixed point near the top, with a second person footing the ladder or a mechanical stability device fitted while you do it. Most ladder falls in the UK happen on ladders that were never fixed at all, so this is the single habit worth building.

Get the setup right before you secure anything

Tying a badly angled ladder just locks in a bad setup. Set it at roughly 75 degrees, which is the familiar one out for every four up, and check the base is on firm, level, non slippery ground. The top should rest against something solid that will not move, flex or crush. Plastic guttering, fragile cladding and window frames all fail that test.

Extend the ladder so at least three rungs, about a metre, project above the landing point if you are stepping off. That overhang gives you something to hold while you transfer your weight, and it also gives you a sensible place to tie.

Tying the ladder at the top

This is the method the HSE treats as the standard for anything beyond a very short job. Done properly it takes a couple of minutes.

1. Pick an anchor that is genuinely structural. A scaffold tube, a securely fixed eye bolt, a strong railing or a solid window mullion will do. Downpipe brackets and gutter clips will not.
2. Tie both stiles, not the rungs. Rungs can rotate in their sockets on some ladders, and a rung tie lets the whole ladder pivot.
3. Use proper rope or a purpose made ladder strap. Around 10mm to 12mm polypropylene or nylon rope is plenty. Bungee cords, cable ties and baler twine are not restraints.
4. Pull the tie tight so the ladder cannot lift, slide sideways or rotate. A tie that leaves 50mm of slack is barely better than nothing.
5. Use a knot you can undo under load. A round turn and two half hitches is the usual choice, and it releases cleanly even after being loaded all day.

Somebody has to climb up to tie the ladder in the first place. During that climb, have a second person foot the ladder, and keep the climb short and deliberate.

Securing the base when you cannot tie the top

Sometimes there is nothing to tie to. In that case you secure the bottom instead, and accept a lower level of protection.

• Ladder feet and mats. Clean, undamaged rubber feet grip most hard surfaces. On smooth concrete or wet tile, a rubber ladder mat or anti slip mat under the feet makes a real difference.
• Stakes on soft ground. On grass or soil, drive a stake behind each foot, or use a ladder with spiked feet flipped down into the ground.
• Batten fixing. Screw a timber batten to the ground or to a joist behind the ladder feet so the base physically cannot slide out.
• Footing by a second person. Only really effective on ladders up to about five metres, and only if that person stays there the whole time with a foot on the bottom rung and hands on the stiles.

Weighting the bottom rung with sandbags or blocks is popular and mostly ineffective. It does very little against a sideways slide, which is how a lot of ladders let go.

Stability devices and stand offs

A ladder stabiliser bar widens the base and dramatically reduces sideways rock, which is the movement that unsettles people most. A stand off does the same job at the top, holding the ladder away from the wall so it bridges over guttering rather than resting on it, and spreading the top contact across a wider span.

Fit these according to the manufacturer instructions, and check the fixings before every use. A stabiliser with a loose clamp is worse than none, because it gives you confidence you have not earned.

Common mistakes worth avoiding

• Tying only one stile, which allows the ladder to twist.
• Anchoring to guttering, a satellite dish bracket, a downpipe or a trellis.
• Resting the top on a window that could be opened from inside.
• Leaving the ladder tied and unattended in a public area overnight.
• Assuming a short job does not need securing. Most falls happen during short jobs.
• Setting up over a doorway without locking or guarding the door.

A quick pre climb check

Once the ladder is secured, stand at the base and push the stiles firmly with both hands. There should be no rock, no slide and no creak from the anchor. Climb two or three rungs and try again. If anything shifts, come down and fix it rather than working around it. Keep three points of contact on the way up, and keep your belt buckle inside the stiles rather than reaching sideways.

On windy days, treat anything above light breeze as a reason to postpone. A secured ladder still catches wind, and carrying a sheet of material up one turns you into a sail.