Every year thousands of people are injured from falls while working around the home. Some injuries are life threatening, life limiting or fatal. Recently a 58-year-old father and husband was hanging outside lights. He fell off the ladder, hit his head on the concrete stoop and died instantly.

 

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Another person was cleaning windows outside the house, standing on an extension ladder. She fell, hit her head on a rock, and two years later she still suffers from injuries sustained in the fall. The home can be a dangerous place and if ladders are not used correctly, it can be a fatal place.

Even though ladders vary in size and style, some simple steps should be followed to minimize injury:

• Read and heed the instructions provided with the ladder and read the warning labels on the ladder.
  

• Use ladders for intended purposes. They can be lethal if used improperly.
  
  
• Keep ladders away from power lines and other types of cables.
  
  
• Do not stand on the top rungs or platforms on a ladder. Many styles of ladders indicate that you should not stand on the top two steps as it makes the ladder unstable. In some cases the top two steps have a platform attached to accommodate a pot of paint, not the weight of a person.
  
  
• Make sure that ladder footings are stable. If using an “A” frame ladder, the ladder should be fully opened. If using a window cleaning style of ladder (extension ladder) that may have several pieces, make sure that the ladder is appropriately supported, pieces are correctly connected, and that it is leaning against a stable wall or object. Avoid working higher than the second floor of a house to minimize the potential for severe injury if you fall. Extension ladders should be placed one quarter of their height away from wall, so a 16-foot ladder should be four feet away from the wall at the base. A 12 foot ladder, three feet away from the wall.
  
  
• Use a spotter to guide and hold the ladder. This may seem like a waste of effort but numerous accidents occur because a ladder is not firmly located on solid ground or a solid surface. The spotter can hold the ladder and watch out for wires or other dangerous items.
  
  
• Do not use ladders that are damaged. For instance rather than use a wooden ladder with bad rungs, buy a new ladder.
  
  
• Buy a quality ladder such as a fiberglass ladder that is safety rated. These may be more expensive, but they are lighter than wood and do not conduct electricity like aluminum ladders.

©2005 by Alan S. Bigger and Linda B. Bigger. Used by permission.

 

 

 

About Alan and Linda Bigger

Alan and Linda Bigger have been writing articles together for nearly 10 years. Alan, the Frugal Housekeeper, has been involved in housekeeping and facilities management for more than 20 years. An author and speaker, he has written or co-authored more than 250 articles and several books. He has received regional and national awards from housekeeping and facilities management organizations including the International Executive Housekeepers' Association William D. Joyner Achievement Award (2004) and Cleaning and Maintenance Management's Person of the Year Award (2004). Linda is a homemaker and freelance editor. Visit the Frugal Housekeeper Web site. E-mail the Biggers at: frugalperson@comcast.net