Safe Use of Ladders at Home
Launch library · evergreen read
Falls from ladders remain a fairly common cause of home injury, often resulting from a ladder that is not properly secured on the ground, set up on an uneven surface, or simply the entirely wrong type or height chosen for the specific task being attempted at the time.
Checking that a ladder is fully open and properly locked into place before climbing, keeping three points of contact at all times while working, and never standing on the very top rungs that are not actually designed to bear weight, all reduce this risk considerably.
Having someone else nearby to steady a ladder, particularly for taller jobs such as cleaning gutters or trimming high branches, adds a genuinely useful extra margin of safety that is easy to skip when tackling what feels like a quick, minor task done entirely alone.
Inspecting a ladder carefully for any damage before each and every use, including checking for cracked rungs or a wobbly frame, and replacing rather than continuing to use a genuinely compromised ladder, matters far more than the specific task being attempted on that particular day.