If the facility manager is not up on OSHA, yeah, I could see that happening as described.
When I started at one property, I insisted on installing a fall prevention device on a shipman’s ladder.
Why? So no one fell to their death.
Why? So no one fell to their death.
I am not familiar with what is a "shipman's ladder", but I can say I have climbed a lot of towers, both radio towers and water towers and I can tell you I absolutely detest those stupid fall prevention devices they put on them.
They are horrible. They make an accident far more likely by wearing you out while trying to drag that stupid fall prevention box up the cable or channel, depending on which sort you have. The cable type are installed right in the middle of the ladder and protruding about 5 inches out from the lader. They force you to climb with your arms outstretched rather than up close to the tower. Climbing in that way is harder and makes you tired much faster. The cables and channels make you place your feet at exactly the right spots, and occasionally your foot will tangle on the cable or channel. I've had occasions where there wasn't enough space to put my foot on a rung because the cable or channel were too close to the ladder rail and my foot wouldn't go in there properly. When I finally got it in there, I had trouble getting it back out.
Both the cable type and the channel type jam up when you least expect them, and as you attempt to take another step, they jerk you back. If you haven't got your hand placement on a rung solidly, they can cause you to lose your grip when you suddenly jerk against one that gets stuck.
And when you finally get to the top of the tower, they have installed the thing right in the middle of the path you have to get through to either reach the tower's candelabra or walk platform.
You are forced to climb over this obstacle at the worst possible time and usually in a difficult manner like climbing over the rail rather than through the opening.
I have climbed many 300 foot towers, some 500 foot towers and 1 thousand foot tower. I have climbed innumerable lesser towers. Those fall prevention devices suck. They make the job harder and more dangerous.