Climbing and working from ladders

A well-chosen, inspected and properly set-up ladder can still be used unsafely. Most ladder falls happen while the person is climbing, reaching, carrying something, stepping off at the top or standing too high. This lesson covers safe climbing, working positions, tools and materials, stepladder and platform ladder rules, and the situations where a ladder simply should not be used.

Before you climb

• Check that you are fit to climb. Dizziness, fatigue, some medications, alcohol and recent injuries affect balance.
• Wear footwear with clean, slip-resistant soles and a defined heel. Clean mud, grease or snow off the soles.
• Make sure the ladder has been inspected, set up and secured as described in lessons 4 and 5.
• Plan how tools and materials will get up and down.
• Know the weather. Wind gusts strong enough to make you brace yourself on the ground are strong enough to push a ladder or its user. Stop outdoor ladder work in high winds, lightning, heavy rain or ice.

Three points of contact

HSE-106 introduced the rule of three points of contact: two hands and one foot, or two feet and one hand, on the ladder at all times while climbing. Face the ladder, keep your body centered between the rails and climb one rung at a time. Grip the rungs or the rails as the manufacturer recommends; many trainers prefer gripping rungs because a slipping hand slides down a rail but catches on a rung.

OSHA's 1926.1053(b)(20) and (21) require employees to face the ladder when going up or down and to use at least one hand to grasp the ladder, and (b)(22) prohibits carrying any object or load that could cause the worker to lose balance.

Carrying tools and materials

Climbing with something in your hand breaks the three points of contact. Instead:

• carry small tools in a tool belt, pouch or holster;
• raise heavier items with a hand line, a bucket and rope, or a hoist, after you reach the top;
• use a ladder tool tray designed for the ladder for items needed at the top;
• tether tools used at height so that they cannot fall on people below, and barricade the drop zone.

Long or awkward items such as pipe, conduit, drywall and roofing bundles should never be carried up a ladder. Use a hoist, a material lift or a scaffold.

The working position

Once at the working height, keep your body inside the rails. The belt buckle rule is a simple test: your belt buckle, or the center of your body, should stay between the side rails. Leaning so far that your buckle passes a rail moves your center of gravity outside the ladder's base and can tip it sideways.

Other rules for the working position:

• Move the ladder rather than overreaching. Climb down, reposition, and climb up again.
• Do not stand on the top cap or top step of a stepladder, the step below the top if it is marked, or the top three rungs of an extension ladder. The top rungs give no handhold above you.
• Avoid side loading: pushing or pulling sideways, such as drilling into a wall at the side, can tip a ladder.
• Avoid jobs that need heavy force, such as breaking out concrete or prying, from a ladder.
• Do not let two people use a single-width ladder at the same time unless it is designed for two, such as a double-sided stepladder with one person on each side, within its rating.
• Never move, shift or extend a ladder while someone is on it.
• Do not use a ladder as a plank, brace, skid or anything else it was not designed for.

Stepping on and off at the top

The transition at the top of a ladder is one of the riskiest moments. The ladder must extend above the landing, or a grab rail must be provided. Step sideways off the ladder onto the landing, holding the rails, rather than climbing over the top. On the way down, face the ladder before you step onto it and test that it is secure. On roofs, the edge area is also a fall hazard; HSE-212 explains how to protect it, for example with a guarded access gate or a parapet opening with a self-closing gate.

Stepladders

Stepladders are the most common ladder in workplaces and homes, and they are involved in many falls.

OSHA's 1926.1053(b)(13) prohibits using the top or top step of a stepladder as a step, and (b)(14) prohibits using cross-bracing on the rear section for climbing unless the ladder is designed for it. Stepladders must also have a metal spreader or locking device that holds the sections open (1926.1053(a)(8)).

Platform ladders and rolling ladders

A platform ladder is often the better choice for work that takes more than a few minutes. The user stands on a wide platform, usually at least 300 mm by 300 mm, with a guardrail or knee rail around it, and can work facing the task with both hands. Rolling ladders and mobile ladder stands, common in warehouses and stores, have casters that retract or lock when weight is put on the steps, and handrails on both sides. Check that the brakes engage before climbing, never ride a rolling ladder while it is pushed, and keep loads within the rating.

Extension ladders at work

On extension ladders, do not stand above the fourth rung from the top, where the top rungs still give a handhold. Work facing the ladder. Where you must use both hands, for example to install a fixture, use a ladder only if the task is short and you can keep your body stable against the ladder; otherwise use a platform. Fall protection from a ladder is difficult: a lanyard tied to the ladder does not help if the ladder itself falls. If fall protection is needed while working from a ladder, connect to an independent anchor and make sure the ladder is secured, or choose a different means of access.

OSHA does not generally require fall protection for workers on portable ladders, but it does require it on fixed ladders over 24 ft, and employers must still protect against recognized hazards. Many companies set their own rule, for example requiring a platform or fall protection whenever two-handed work is done above a set height.

When not to use a ladder

• In strong winds, lightning, icy conditions or poor visibility.
• Near energized equipment with a conductive ladder.
• When you are unwell, tired or impaired.
• For heavy, long, two-handed or forceful work.
• Where the base cannot be made firm, level and secure.
• When the ladder is too short and you would have to stand on the top rungs or steps.

Ladders and human factors

Most people who fall from ladders were not careless in general. They were tired, rushed, distracted, or doing a task they had done safely hundreds of times. Complacency grows with familiarity. Supervisors can counter it by planning ladder work into the schedule rather than letting it be squeezed in, by making the right equipment easy to get, by praising workers who stop to reposition a ladder or fetch a better one, and by talking openly about near misses. A near miss on a ladder, such as a foot slipping or a ladder shifting, is a warning worth reporting and discussing at the next toolbox talk.

Above all, treat stopping to move the ladder as part of the job, not a delay.