Thirty-six percent of construction injury and deaths come from "slips, trips, and falls." Most of the more serious accidents are from roof falls, but ladder falls are close behind. And while ladder safety has been done over and over again, people continue to set them up carelessly and fall off of them.
One way to improve the odds is to create a culture of workplace safety, and one step in that direction is to post safety sheets on the job. Here, Winchester Homes in southern Maryland has a ladder safety poster printed and tacked to the job board in the garages of the units.
The Mystery Inspector has a little experience with ladder falls. Mostly from watching a co-worker take a ladder ride down the side of a house because the ladder had been set up too quickly, on an icy spot, and at too obtuse an angle. The co-worker would have been less injured if he had let go of the ladder. Instead, he gripped the ladder with his knees tight to the rungs. When the ladder slapped against the driveway, the force was transferred to the carpenter's knees. Ouch.
For more info on ladder safety, pick up the NAHB/OSHA jobsite safety handbook at Amazon, or you can find a free PDF posted here.
Attaboy, Winchester Homes! Safety first.
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