National Ladder Safety Month is upon us! Ladders are in use every day at jobsites, and they are one of the most essential pieces of equipment you will find. There are a lot of ladders out there, each requiring a certain set of knowledge to make sure safety is a priority. Though quite often, safety is not the first thought going through the minds of workers using ladders for their day-to-day job.
The American Ladder Institute statistic-based studies show that, “work-related ladder falls result in one death and more than 180 non-fatal injuries every two days in America.” Not to mention, OSHA has cited ladder violations over 16,500 times in the past seven years at multiple jobsites around the country. It may seem easy to climb a ladder, but many factors that go into this task tend to be left as afterthoughts- and these statistics show that. OSHA states that “falls are the leading cause of death in construction, and every year falls from ladders make up nearly a third of those deaths.”
Jay Stephan, a Field Operations Manager with Diversified Safety Services, said he often sees “people using a step ladder of the wrong height and standing either on the very top, or the step right below,” he also informed me that “not setting up a ladder on a level surface or using a damaged ladder,” are among the most frequent trends he sees when ladders are misused on site. For a piece of equipment that is so frequently used, why aren’t steps taken to prevent a fall or a death, and to keep yourself and those around you safe?
You would ensure you’re wearing the right safety equipment if you are working at an extreme height, you wouldn’t stand on the edge of a building without a guardrail (I’d hope). Whether you’re four or 40 feet off the ground, nothing can diminish the fact that a fall from either height can end in serious injury or, even death. Not to mention the additional tools and equipment you may have in use while doing the job; those could cause even more bodily harm than just an initial fall.
Oftentimes when an incident occurs there is a reactive approach after the fact, instead of there being proactive steps taken to ensure accidents don’t happen in the first place. A couple tips from Stephan were to check ladders each time before they are used, ensure the structural integrity before it is scaled, and “the most important thing would be to intervene immediately when you witness someone using a ladder improperly.” By instilling a safety-first mentality, you can prioritize those around you, as well as your own safety and health.
To put safety first, training is crucial. Staying up to date on safe training practices and evolving standards is the best way to keep yourself safe on the job. At Diversified Safety Services we offer training of all kinds, including Fall Protection and Ladder Safety, where we teach you all about what TO do and what NOT to do. With DSS Trainings we can help you establish a strong safety culture that thrives! Don’t be reactive, be proactive about trainings with DSS!
