Patent ID: 8869935

Claim:
A work platform unit mountable to a ladder, comprising: a platform upon which a work person may stand, the platform mountable to an end of a ladder such that when the ladder is located in a position of use the platform is settable to a horizontal position, and a safety barrier construction located above the platform, the safety barrier construction providing all around safety protection to the work person when standing upon the platform, wherein said platform includes socket members engagable with upper ends of each stile of the ladder, wherein the safety barrier construction framework includes an arrangement comprised of i) a first pair of upright members upstanding from corners of the platform remote from a region of the platform associated with said sockets, ii) an upper rail interconnecting tops of the upright members, iii) an intermediate rail interconnecting the upright members intermediate the top and bottom thereof, said upper and intermediate rails and the upright members defining a rectangular sub-frame facing towards any support against which the ladder rests when in use, iv) a curved tubular upper rail and intermediate rail extending from free end regions of each of said upper and intermediate rails, the upright members interconnecting the free end regions of the upper and intermediate tubular rails, and v) outwards leaning further upright members supporting the free end regions of the intermediate tubular rails with respect to the platform, the arrangement being such that the tubular rails and the associated upright members define a partially cylindrical framework having a diameter greater than the width of the platform, wherein the safety barrier construction incorporates a gate arrangement such that with the gate arrangement closed, the framework effectively totally surrounds the work person when present upon the platform thereby to provide said all around protection, and wherein the gate arrangement includes a respective gate member for each side of the platform with each said gate member including i) upper and lower curved rails that are respectively slidably engageable in the upper and intermediate tubular rails and ii) a vertical member interconnecting exposed free ends of the upper and lower curved rails, the gate arrangement being such that when said vertical member of each gate member are located side by side, the gate members combine to provide a partially cylindrical closure to the gate arrangement.