Page 77 - Occupational Health & Safety, July/August 2019

essentially says, “This is not a rung. Don’t stand here.” If the only purpose for the top step is to hold the sticker telling you not to use it, why is it there in the first place? If it’s not there, you can’t use it, and hopefully this will discourage you from trying to stand on the top of the ladder.
Another mistake ladder users make is leaning an ordinary step- ladder against a wall when they need to get close to their work. If you need a leaning ladder, choose a ladder that has been designed to work that way so you can work close to your job without risking your safety.
Leveling a Ladder
When I ask people how they level their ladders, the common re- sponse is “bricks and boards.” It is recommended that you dig out the high side instead of trying to build up the low side to properly level a ladder. You also can purchase a ladder leveler to add to your ladder or choose a ladder with a leveler integrated into the ladder.
Over-Reaching
Improper leveling and over-reaching are the major causes of tip- and-fall accidents. These accidents cause thousands of disabling injuries and hundreds of fatalities every year.
We train people to keep their bodies between the side rails of the ladder, but we know that doesn’t always happen. One solution to this problem is adding wide-stance levelers to the bottom of an extension ladder to increase the footprint. If the climber can’t get
outside the footprint of the ladder, they won’t be able to tip it over. Those wide-stance levelers also easily adapt to changing and un- level ground, giving the ladder a wide, level base. Adding a caged platform at the top of a stepladder is another way to keep the user centered inside.
OSHA has great ladder safety training on its website. The American Ladder Institute offers free online ladder safety training at its website www.laddersafetytraining.org, but training alone is not enough. We know how people misuse ladders, so we can add safety features to prevent the accidents from happening—even when they are misused. This is safety through design, not just safety training.
Dave Francis has been in the ladder business for more than 30 years. As a college student, he cleaned the offices of Little Giant Ladder Sys- tems at night and has stayed with the company ever since. Working his way up the ladder (pun intended), Dave became the Director of R&D and holds five U.S. patents for improvements in ladder design. He is now the National Safety Director, with the sole purpose of pre- venting ladder accidents and hopefully saving lives by promoting lad- der safety training and innovations in ladder design. He has provided ladder safety to companies around the United States, including The Walt Disney Company, Boeing, Comcast, and BP Oil. He is also the editor for www.LadderSafetyHub.com, a ladder safety blog. His goal is the same as yours, getting everyone home to their families at the end of the day.
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