The Work at Height Regulations do not ban ladders. This is the single most repeated piece of nonsense in the trade and it costs people work every year, because they turn down jobs they are perfectly entitled to do. What the regulations require is that you avoid working at height where you reasonably can, and where you cannot, that you use suitable equipment and reduce the distance and consequences of a fall.
In practice that is a sequence. Can it be done from the ground, with a pole? Then do that. If not, is there a safer platform than a ladder that is proportionate to the job? For a domestic first floor, usually not. Then a ladder is suitable equipment, provided it is in good condition, correctly angled, footed on firm level ground and secured.
What short duration means
Short duration is the phrase that matters. Ladders are appropriate for short duration work where the risk is low, and cleaning the windows of a house is the textbook example. Three hours on a ladder rebuilding a chimney is not.
Inspection is the part most sole traders skip. A documented check of your ladders at sensible intervals takes five minutes and is the difference between an accident and a negligence claim. Rungs, stiles, feet, stabiliser fixings, and anything bent gets retired rather than nursed.
Public liability insurance is not a legal requirement for a sole trader but you will not get commercial work without it, and no letting agent or shop will let you near their frontage. Ten million is the number most contracts now ask for. ▪