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Sunday, June 20. 2021

Ladder safety, the basics

Ladders are necessary but they are dangerous. Guys like roofers and framers are experts with them, but the ordinary person is not. 




Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 12:09 | Comments (11) | Trackbacks (0)

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Back in a former life, the utility company I worked for was serious about safety. I still remember a ladder safety video they showed us illustrating every way you could kill yourself on a ladder. I'd like to say I learned all that but, in later years, I fell off a ladder once and even had an extension ladder fall on me, busting up my foot. These days, I got smart and bought myself a Little Giant Ladder. It works great on the sloping ground out in my orchard.
#1 snopercod on 2021-06-20 13:01 (Reply)
Link is wrong. Whenever I link I get turned away by the spam filter, but readers can get to the link by deleting a bit of it.

I like that type of ladder as well, especially on stairs.
#1.1 Assistant Village Idiot on 2021-06-20 17:06 (Reply)
Little Giant ladders are great; Often COSTCO features them bringing a traveling sales crew in to hawk them in-store. I have one and particularly like the work platform that can go on most any rung and convert it to something more similar to a podium style ladder:

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-Ladder-Systems-10104/dp/B00064C4V8/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=little+giant+platform&qid=1624228344&sr=8-3

Since painting houses in high school, I don't use an extension ladder that doesn't have a stand-off stabilizer on the end of it - I'm surprised Mr. Wadsworth didn't mention them; they improve stability 1000%.
#1.2 Aggie on 2021-06-20 18:36 (Reply)
I need one of those! Thanks for the tip.
#1.2.1 snopercod on 2021-06-21 15:11 (Reply)
Love the tip about checking the angle of the ladder; simple with no extra tools or gauges required. 14+ minutes well spent.
#2 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2021-06-20 13:37 (Reply)
I've earned my living on ladders for 35+ years. It's not as hard as some people think to stay safe on them. You just have to always adhere to a couple of simple rules.
Make sure of your footing. Always put the feet on something solid that won't shift.
Keep your center of gravity between the rails and within the ladder's footprint. If you do that it's even possible to safely use a step ladder on sloping ground.
I've never fallen off a ladder, even when using them in places that look precarious.
#3 SteveP (Link) on 2021-06-20 14:15 (Reply)
During the time I had no insurance for about a month and really was trying to be careful, I set up my metal step ladder to put something up on a bird feeder poll. I got to the top just about 5 feet off the ground and one leg went deep into the ground in a mole tunnel. Ladder promptly folded up and I went down hitting the ground and fortunately tried to tuck and just go down the hill and not fight things. Luckily I wend through the wooden fence with my back and came to rest about 15 or 20 feel down the hill in the weeds. Actually came out fine and not even bruised thank the Lord. We had a good laugh at the scene but I was fortunate. Make sure you on solid ground before climbing your ladder.
#4 JC on 2021-06-20 17:23 (Reply)
First rule, no, it is never a good idea to reach just that bit further so you don't have to move the ladder that one last time. Alway's goes bad for you.
#5 JK Brown on 2021-06-20 22:02 (Reply)
I keep forgetting that, to my repeated regret.
#5.1 Assistant Village Idiot on 2021-06-21 20:34 (Reply)
In my experience roofers, and especially framers, are half-crazy and pretty wild. They might know how to use a ladder, but safety is way down on the list.
#6 Jack Walter on 2021-06-21 11:19 (Reply)
That guy has a REALLY GOOD YouTube channel. Quality craftmanship the focus.
#7 G Storm on 2021-06-21 11:44 (Reply)

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