Werner Podium Step Ladder review

There are plenty of trades who would find the Werner Podium step ladder useful including plumbers, decorators and heating and ventilation fitters, says Roger Bisby as he puts the product to the test.

Two days before I got to test these Werner Podium step ladder I was using a pair of ordinary steps  and climbed a little higher than I should have. I was up on the second to top tread and reaching up to mount a PIR detector.  Ordinarily, I would have said,  that my sense of balance is good  enough to do this but on that particular day I had a head cold which blocked my sinuses and,  I suppose,  my sense of balance was put out slightly. And that was all it took,  a slight wooziness  as I reached the top, and I lurched uncontrollably  forward dropping the drill and just managing  to steady myself  on the  wall. The householder saw my narrow escape and called out in horror expecting me to dive head  first onto her  lovely  tiled floor. It was embarrassing  it might also have hurt or far worse.  I know a bloke who took a head first dive from a similar height and hit the concrete. He can no longer work and has never recovered enough mental capacity to cross the road on his own.  He also talks very slowly.

So when the Werner Podium ladder arrived I was ‘up for it’ in a way I might not have previously been and  it reminded me that  everyone who relies on luck will find the limit, unless of course it finds them first.

The top platform gives you a comfortable standing space from which you can work on all points around the compass.

The design of the Podium means that you should never rise above your workstation. The top platform gives you a comfortable standing space from which you can work on all points around the compass. The guard rail is there to steady yourself while you use both hands to get on with the job. The rail also has a storage hole for a drill and can take a clip on bucket.

The Podium is a very sturdy Fibreglass ladder certified for trade use. The non-conductive  components make it suitable for electricians but it is by no means exclusively aimed at electricians.  There are plenty of trades who would find such a ladder useful including plumbers, decorators and heating and ventilation fitters.

As good as this ladder is you still need to keep in mind that it is possible to topple it if you over-reach or start trying to do things you shouldn’t such as climbing up on the hand rail.  The golden rule is to keep three points in contact with the ladder. That is both feet and some part of your middle body. See our Youtube channel for more tips on how to stay alive when using ladders.

You can also improve the stability by placing the ladder on a flat board provided there is no bounce in it. There are five sizes in the range with the effective reach based on a person of  5ft  9inches standing on the platform.  We all know of course that there is no one ladder that can suit every job but if you regularly carry out a particular task at a known height then you can work out which size is best for you. For me the mid range 6 foot ladder giving a working height of up to 11ft 9 inches  would get a lot of use.