Injury prevention

Safety at every rung

Training workers on using ladders is a must

September 26, 2021
Alan Ferguson
One Comment
Ladder safety Ladders
ladder safety
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Inspections

Ladders must “be inspected by a competent person for visible defects on a periodic basis and after any occurrence that could affect their safe use,” according to OSHA regulation 1926.1053(b)(15).

Under OSHA’s general industry rules – 1910.23(b)(9): “Ladders are inspected before initial use in each work shift, and more frequently as necessary, to identify any visible defects that could cause employee injury.”

Both sets of regulations require employers to mark defective ladders with “Do not use” or similar words, and remove them from service.

Where do physical issues often appear on ladders? One area is the feet. Patterson said when he’s looking at a ladder, he’ll have a co-worker stand it up and see if all four feet touch the ground evenly. “If all four feet don’t have firm contact, it’s time to get rid of it,” he said.

Along with the feet, CPWR recommends a check of the rails, rungs, rung locks and spreaders before each use of the ladder. ALI provides an inspection checklist on its website.

Additionally, make sure labels are attached, especially the danger labels on the top step and top cap as well as the load-rating label, Patterson said. If any labels come off, he advised getting replacement danger labels or using an indelible marker to write the load-rating information on the ladder while seeking replacement labels.

Tools

ALI has a webpage to help employers and workers choose the right ladder for the job. One aspect to check is the maximum weight the ladder can support, also known as its duty rating. That weight includes the employee, clothing/personal protective equipment, and any tools or supplies. Ladder duty ratings range from Type III (light duty) – able to support up to 200 pounds – to Type IAA (extra heavy duty), able to support a max weight of 375 pounds.

NIOSH debuted its ladder safety phone app in 2013 and updated it in 2016. The tool shows how to pick the right ladder based on user characteristics and tasks. This includes avoidance of electrical hazards.

The app also features an inspection tool and a way to ensure a ladder is level or set at the proper angle if resting against a structure such as a wall, also known as the “4-to-1 rule.” This means that for every 4 feet above the surface level, the ladder is moved 1 foot away from the vertical structure on which it’s resting.

Although not required under OSHA standards, performing a risk assessment of which type of ladder or other equipment to use could aid in their safe use. Such an assessment is required by the Health and Safety Executive – the United Kingdom’s version of OSHA.

“They recognize that ladders can be a higher-risk type of device,” Patterson said.

Rungs or rails?

The debate over using ladder rungs or rails to maintain three points of contact played out in the pages of Safety+Health in 2012.

Although OSHA doesn’t specify between the two in its regulations, the National Safety Council – on its ladder safety webpage – says users should “face the ladder and always grip the rungs, not the side rails.”

The American Ladder Institute’s “Ladders 101” webpage, meanwhile, states that a climber can use the three-point-contact rule via “the ladder steps, rungs and/or side rails.”

Three experts from CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training side with NSC. Spencer Schwegler, director of OSHA and disaster response training at CPWR as well as a retired union painter, performed a set of unofficial experiments on the subject in the name of safety.

Schwegler tried to suspend himself by holding onto a ladder rail while simulating a fall. He couldn’t hold on, but he tried to see if the younger, stronger students in his classes might perform a little better. “Nobody could,” Schwegler said.

The CPWR experts also pointed to their organization’s construction solutions webpage, which states that using horizontal round bars on fixed ladders can help reduce falls. Likewise, a 2008 study funded by CPWR found that “significantly more force can be exerted to support body weight with a round horizontal rung than a round vertical rail.”

The study, however, concluded that “sliding the hands along the rails is less demanding than climbing from rung to rung.” At the time, researchers cautioned that further study was needed.

A concern over using rungs, highlighted in letters to the S+H editor in 2012, is the possible accumulation of water, mud or snow/ice, and the potentially dangerous slippage when encountering these elements. (See letters below.)

One letter writer in the August 2012 issue brought up the shape of a rung (round vs. square) and how that might differ in helping maintain grip.

Another reader a month earlier began his letter plainly: “First, if employees are practicing a three-point contact – be plenty satisfied.”




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