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Each year in the United States ladder mishaps lead to more than 160,000 emergency room visits. Pay attention to the following tips and avoid becoming a statistic.
By Robert Harris and G.V. Pape
Before stepping onto the rungs of any ladder, a few issues should be considered for your personal safety:
1. What type of work will you be doing from the ladder? If you will be performing electrical work or will be anywhere near live wires, choose a fiberglass or wooden ladder, as opposed to one made of aluminum. Their non-conductive properties will prevent you from being electrocuted in the event that you touch a live wire or bump into one while moving your ladder.
2. Is your ladder big enough for the job? Always respect warning labels, especially on stepladders, which are free-standing and do not lean against anything for support. If a label says not to step above a certain rung, and you still cannot reach your work, then it's time to get a taller ladder. Check the ladder's load rating if possible (look for a sticker on the side of a ladder) and never exceed it. Make sure you take into account the weight of the materials you're bringing up the ladder.
3. Think about your working environment. When working indoors on a stepladder, try to orient yourself so that if you fall backwards you will fall to the floor and not down a staircase, or into any large piece of furniture which could, in turn, fall on top of you. Never open a ladder in front of a door that is not locked or at least guarded. A door opening into a set up ladder can hurt both the person opening the door as well as the person on the ladder. If you are working outside with an extension ladder, try to push the cleats at the bottom of the ladder into a soft material like grass or mulch, rather than rely on the feet to sit flat on a surface like asphalt or brick, where they risk slipping.
4. Watch where you lean. Take the few extra moments to climb down and move the ladder when you need to reach a hard to get to spot. Do not try to lean over to reach it. When leaning you may feel secure on the ladder but your weight can move the base of the ladder without you being aware of it. When using an extension ladder to access a roof, never lean on the part of the ladder protruding above the roof edge. This can lift the bottom of the ladder off the ground, causing the ladder to slide down the roof edge, and taking you with it. For this reason, it is best to leave only a foot or two of ladder protruding above the roof edge. Do not climb onto the top three rungs of an extension ladder.
5. Consider your footwear. Be sure to wear shoes with sufficient tread that will grip the sometimes slippery rungs. Boots can be especially useful when standing on a ladder for a long time, as you can 'hook' the rung between the boot's heel and arch.
6. Ask for help if you are not comfortable moving a ladder by yourself. It is best to grip it high with your stronger arm and low with your weaker arm, getting as wide a span of rungs as you find comfortable, for maximum leverage. If you are not absolutely confident that you can move a ladder by yourself, ask someone for help or you risk serious injury and possible property damage when you drop it.
7. Check the locks. Always check all of the locks on any kind of ladder. Take the few extra moments to make sure they are in place.
8. Watch where you step. Never step on the top shelf or the bucket shelf on a step ladder. Never try to climb up the backside of a step ladder. Stay in the middle of a ladder at all times.
9. Keep checking the steps and rungs of a ladder. Dripping paint or grease tracked up the ladder can turn a safe ladder into a slippery ladder that is very dangerous.
10. Never leave an opened ladder unattended. Ladder safety doesn't just mean your own safety but applies to those around you. Be responsible, you never want a situation where a child, or any other unauthorized person, finds your opened ladder and starts to climb it.
Ladder safety isn't complicated if you follow the ten tips above and use some common sense.
Robert Harris and G.V. Pape contributed to Shelterpop using Seed.com. To learn how you can contribute go to Seed.com