Chris Renshaw of Bratts Ladders explains how its products have enabled simpler and safer working in a variety of rail environments.

Never heard of us? No reason why you should. We have only been manufacturing since 1895 and are one of the best kept secrets in the access industry. Based in Nottingham, we have been supplying the rail industry with ladders, steps and platforms for over 80 years.

Bratts Ladders mainly manufacture non-conductive Glassfibre and Timber access equipment but can also make in Aluminium and Steel.

Alstom Virgin wanted to improve access whilst working under and around trains, so we designed and built a simpler, safer, non-conductive working platform called the StepUp, that they have found invaluable. We also manufactured a step to enable the cleaners to access carriages more easily and safely with hoovers. 

We have designed an SLS (Safe Ladder System), to allow maintenance on the front of trains. A pair of industrial suckers sticks to the glass or any smooth surface to prevent movement. For National Express and Siemens maintenance teams, we designed different types of Timber SLS to access the pantographs for servicing. The majority of carriages carry a ladder to enable passengers to disembark in an emergency. We make those.

The Bridge is brilliantly simple. A Glassfibre access system that will span any obstacle, enabling safe working with minimum disruption. A number of companies were having problems working over desks, machinery and work benches. They now use ‘The Bridge’, a three part piece of kit, adjustable for height, that folds flat for storage and transportation.

All the ladders and steps featured in the Unipart Rail catalogue are made by Bratts. We also supply access equipment to many other rail companies including Network Rail, Bailey Rail, London Underground, Thales, Balfour Beatty, Amec, Amey, Southeastern Trains, South West Trains, First Great Western, DLR, Bombardier, Siemens and ScotRail. 

Bratts Ladders worked with the Health and Safety Executive to help produce the Work at Height Regulations and the HSE Guidance for Employees. We can therefore advise on ladder and stepladder use within these procedures.

We are the only UK manufacturer of: BS1129 Class 1 Kitemark Timber and BS EN131 Kitemark Glassfibre ladders, stepladders, platforms and specialist access equipment for industrial use. All of our Glassfibre products also comply with ANSI 14-5 and ESI 13-1.

The British Standard Kitemark (BS) is only awarded to products that pass strict regular testing, which guarantees you continuous audited quality. EN131 alone does not.

Our track record is proven; we still maintain Timber ladders we made for Network Rail over 30 years ago!