Some common misuses of straight, extension and stepladders is not climbing or working on these ladders correctly. OSHA safety regulations, contractor safety programs, and ladder manufacturers alike do not require fall protection systems for portable ladders. This is primarily due to the fact that while ladder use is certainly involved in many accidents, it’s simply proper usage of the ladders that will provide a safe working environment.
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One of the most common misuses of straight, extension and stepladders is not using the right ladder for the job. OSHA safety regulations, contractor safety programs, and ladder manufacturers alike do not require fall protection systems for portable ladders. This is primarily due to the fact that while ladder use is certainly involved in many accidents, it’s simply proper usage of the ladders that will provide a safe working environment. For instance, the material that a stepladder, straight or extension ladder is made from can be critical to ladder safety. Using a ladder of the wrong material may be fatal! Ladder engineers design ladders of certain materials for certain types of work – not paying attention to this is just asking for trouble.
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One of the most common misuses of straight, extension and stepladders is not using the coorect rated ladder for the job. OSHA safety regulations, contractor safety programs, and ladder manufacturers alike do not require fall protection systems for portable ladders. This is primarily due to the fact that while ladder use is certainly involved in many accidents, it’s simply proper usage of the ladders that will provide a safe working environment. For instance, the weight rating of a ladder is critical to ladder safety. If the weight rating of an extension ladder is insufficient (see figure 1), there is more outward lateral pressure on the feet than the ladder was designed for, and more pressure on the rungs and siderails, and of course, more pressure on the extension latches. What this means to you is that the ladder is much more likely to be damaged, fail or collapse than you than you realize. Ladder engineers design their ladders based on the anticipated load.
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