[Nhcoll-l] Museum platform ladders

[John E Simmons]

Tonya,
When the fluid preserved specimen facility at the University of Kansas was
built, we were required (by the university safety office) to purchase
safety ladders to access the upper shelves. Although we thought these would
be a problem, they actually worked very well and are still in use more than
25 years later.

The style we purchased are similar these--rolling ladders, with the wheels
on springs, and a platform and railing:
https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-3132-24/Ladders/7-Step-Safety-Angle-Rolling-Ladder-Assembled-with-24-Top-Step?pricode=WA9521&gadtype=pla&id=H-3132-24&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwMqvBhCtARIsAIXsZparSypH65kAU7w_vJjYfk1Ro-0LTxtfU-tfUQQYnbnynPmuOpXU-pUaAnCGEALw_wcB

As Dirk mentioned, the most important thing is to match the ladder to the
width of the aisles and the width of the area where the ladders are to be
turned around. Even the narrow 25 inch wide ladders (such as are in use at
KU) cannot be turned around within the aisle, but this is not a
problem--just as with compactors, you quickly adjust your work habits to
accommodate moving the ladders and opening and closing aisles. The ladders
need a fairly wide space to be turned around, so make sure the ladders you
purchase will fit your space. We cut a shape of the base of a ladder out of
cardboard and used that to make sure the ladders could be easily wheeled
about and turned around in your space.

Another important factor is to adjust the springs so that the weight of the
lightest person using the ladders will cause them to settle on the floor.
If they are adjusted for heavier people only, the ladders can slide.

We also found that having the railing around the platform is very useful
for moving boxes or, in your case, heavy trays.

If you have any questions about using safety ladders in your collection
space, you might want to check with Andy Bentley at the University of
Kansas, who has now used the ladders longer than I did while there.

--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
*and*
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima


On Wed, Mar 13, 2024 at 8:27 PM Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace) <
Tonya.Haff at csiro.au> wrote:

> Hello again everyone,
>
>
>
> I am wondering if any of you have ladder recommendations that you would be
> willing to share. We are moving to new taller cabinetry for our study
> skins. The trays are also quite heavy, as they are large and made of powder
> coat steel. I think I would like some ladders that have a moveable platform
> on them, in order to be able to retrieve trays from height and then lower
> them down mechanically. Ideally, they would also be manoeuvrable so that we
> could easily get them down aisles and around corners in very full
> collection halls. Any thoughts or recommendations on something like this,
> or alternatives I should look into, would be greatly appreciated!
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
> Tonya
>
>
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