a safety ladder cage system is of a fabricated construction to reduce the time and expertise to provide a safety cage to one side of a scaffold system access ladder . the safety cage system is divided into two components each of which can be carried by a worker to the appropriate point and loosely hung from a ladder rung or the ladder uprights . the worker is then free to accurately position the safety cage component to one side of the ladder . the second component is then brought into position and attached to the opposite side of the ladder in a similar manner . the components are then attached to each other along vertical securing edges outwardly spaced from and generally centered on the ladder . each component preferably includes its own captured connector for engaging the opposite component .