# Ladder safety proposal



## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Falls from heights of 8 feet or less remains the #1 mode of electrician fatalities yet today.

I'm not sure I agree with more PPE, but if you want to go that route I'd favor fall protection apparatus rather than head protection. So you don't crush your skull, but broke your neck and became paralyzed? Maybe you'd wish for a crushed skull instead.


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## daveEM (Nov 18, 2012)

I'm thinking full blown NHL approved hockey gear less the skates of course.

We are talking, shins, elbows, shoulders, chest, face mask and a thing for your nuts if you have em. Full protection...

and if you watch hockey... those guys work like they are skating in the nude. There will be NO crying the blues about gear slowing you down. 

This would be for ladders and even job sites as I'm sure there is still the odd electrical cord (trip hazard) around. Battery tools are becoming mor popular tho.

It will be a pretty safe construction world.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

I think they should just do away with ladders altogether. any work that has to be done should either be done on a platform (read lift) or on pogosticks.


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

wildleg said:


> I think they should just do away with ladders altogether. any work that has to be done should either be done on a platform (read lift) or on pogosticks.


You always look macho on a Pogostick.


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## stuiec (Sep 25, 2010)

Weird article, was he an insulator or electrician......wait a second, didn't Kaboler leave our trade to insulate?

As for the hockey gear......you've obviously never caught a whiff of a hockey bag Dave.......we start wearing that and not a single one of us is getting laid ever again.


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## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

So, he was just standing on a ladder...........and fell off? Was he standing on the top? Where it say's "no standing"? Why should others have to look like they're in a Godzilla movie because one guy didn't use a ladder properly? (Yeah, I'm assuming, but........people don't usually just fall off of ladders.)


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

They make a airbag that you strap around the neck. Before your arse hits the floor it inflates and protects the neck and forms into a helmet. They want to sell them to city folk who keep getting run over biking to work.

i have no problem with the idea of put a explosives around my neck. I mean what could possibly go wrong with a airbag...


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

joebanana said:


> So, he was just standing on a ladder...........and fell off? Was he standing on the top? Where it say's "no standing"? Why should others have to look like they're in a Godzilla movie because one guy didn't use a ladder properly? (Yeah, I'm assuming, but........people don't usually just fall off of ladders.)


We've never met I guess.

:surprise: :wink:

My ladder falls were always on someone else's ladder.
I have ridden them down, had them fold up on me, and just plain old forgot I was on a 10 footer when I've been on a 6 footer all day. 

I figured out all step ladders look the same at the top and when you have been on a 6 footer then climb an 8 or 10 footer your brain has gained muscle memory telling you your last step has just been taken when in fact you are still 2 to 4 feet off the floor.

I'll bet all of you have done the step ladder two step realizing you are not going to step onto the floor from the ladder as you thought.


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

The reason bike helmets are required for kids is not because of forward momentum, it's because of vertical acceleration when they go over. 



We had a local meteorologist die on a bike. He caught the corner of a road sign which cause him to fall over. He was a big dude, around 6'3". His head hit the sidewalk and he was dead.


Friend of mine is a physician, he broke 2 vertebrae in his neck when he hit a pothole on his bicycle.


It's crazy what a 5' fall can do to someone's head if they are off balance when they hit a hard surface below.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

drsparky said:


> A insulator died after fell while working on a 10' ladder and suffered traumatic brain injury. The coroners inquest recommended that all folks working off a ladder be required to wear a climbers helmet. The more I think about it I think it is a valid idea. Any thoughts?
> 
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/accident-adam-carleton-inquest-worksafe-nb-1.4922230


He should stay in his lane. :biggrin:


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

Why stop at work.....why not require every human to wear full PPE 24 hours a day???

Even better, since birth is terminal, simply outlaw birth. Problem solved!

My point is........how about lets be reasonable with safety requirements? The last thing we need is more regulations.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

wildleg said:


> I think they should just do away with ladders altogether. any work that has to be done should either be done on a platform (read lift) or on pogosticks.


I am holding out for a jetpack. If you get me a jetpack I won't bitch about wearing a helmet.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

I was trying not to be my typical Debbie downer self when it comes to safety, but I just can’t resist.

We all know that there is significantly more risk driving to work then working. Why should we wear a helmet at work to mitigate a small risk when wearing a helmet while driving to work and everywhere else will provide a much larger safety benefit? 

It’s all just feel-good bullcrap. The doctor is just looking to put his name on something. He doesn’t care about your health. He is the same type of person that will say how firearms in the home are dangerous to children while ignoring the fact that more kids get killed by swimming pools and household poisons, which he never even mentions and he leaves accessible to his own kids. It’s all about sensationalism.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

micromind said:


> Why stop at work.....why not require every human to wear full PPE 24 hours a day???
> 
> Even better, since birth is terminal, simply outlaw birth. Problem solved!
> 
> My point is........how about lets be reasonable with safety requirements? The last thing we need is more regulations.


That's the thing, you have to draw the line, but the safety climate doesn't recognize that. 

That's why every single person everywhere is wearing a yellow vest, even jobs where visibility would never be a factor in a million years. 

I wouldn't be surprised if helmets were required instead of hardhats. Really I never thought a hardhat was going to save me from much other than a wrench dropped from a lift on my head. 

But I wouldn't be surprised if they said you have to wear them in the truck driving and at lunch, just all day. Someone in a desk somewhere will say F. you guys, you're punched in and on our workman's comp policy, you wear your helmet, doesn't cost the company anything, and don't care if you like it.


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## GrayHair (Jan 14, 2013)

A friend was injured a few month ago when he fell from a 10' ladder while "rescuing" a kitten from a tree. The kicker is that part of John's work involves lighting and antennas on TV and radio towers. He refers to climbing as "getting to the job site". *https://www.youtube.com/user/jhettish/videos*


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

I assume an inquest would determine if be blacked out for some reason. Maybe he over reached.

Something like a ski helmet could be more comfortable than a hard hat. Could be a little hot during our three weeks of summer, though.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

wildleg said:


> I think they should just do away with ladders altogether. any work that has to be done should either be done on a platform (read lift) or on pogosticks.


I am pretty sure that is how romex racer wired houses. Between pogo sticks and his special receptacles he was the ****.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

drsparky said:


> A insulator died after fell while working on a 10' ladder and suffered traumatic brain injury. The coroners inquest recommended that all folks working off a ladder be required to wear a climbers helmet. The more I think about it I think it is a valid idea. Any thoughts?
> 
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/accident-adam-carleton-inquest-worksafe-nb-1.4922230


That seems like a great idea. Let's have people that have no idea start recommending more regulations.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

micromind said:


> Why stop at work.....why not require every human to wear full PPE 24 hours a day???
> 
> Even better, since birth is terminal, simply outlaw birth. Problem solved!
> 
> My point is........how about lets be reasonable with safety requirements? The last thing we need is more regulations.


I'm waiting for the requirement of full body exoskeleton suits that are bullet proof.....they can't be too far down the pike!


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

99cents said:


> I assume an inquest would determine if be blacked out for some reason. Maybe he over reached.
> 
> Something like a ski helmet could be more comfortable than a hard hat. Could be a little hot during our three weeks of summer, though.


Did you guys pick up the 3rd week from global warming or was it always just summer to you guys?


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

LARMGUY said:


> We've never met I guess.
> 
> :surprise: :wink:
> 
> ...


I have missed the last step several/many times and was lucky to never get hurt.
However at my daughters wedding on the beach I broke my elbow when I missed the last stair. The deck style wooden stairs that they use to transition from beach to pavement.
I could blame the beer. But I never miss the last stair here at home. So far!


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

I painted my garage floor, and when it rained and a couple drops of water got on it and I walked out with flip flops on, I busted my butt. It happened again and I repainted it with sand. Then I slipped on the striping in front of the grocery store when it was wet. 

That never happened to me on a ladder. I'd say flip flops are way more dangerous than ladders. Maybe they should require a helmet and pads when you are wearing them.

(Ya'll think ice and snow are so dangerous. wait till you retire and move to florida and flip flops smite you)


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

If you never missed the bottom rung on a ladder, I would question how many times you actually used one.


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

John Valdes said:


> If you never missed the bottom rung on a ladder, I would question how many times you actually used one.


Kinda like the guy who never makes a mistake.......because he never does anything........lol. 

But there's a lot of truth here.


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

HackWork said:


> I was trying not to be my typical Debbie downer self when it comes to safety, but I just can’t resist.
> 
> We all know that there is significantly more risk driving to work then working. Why should we wear a helmet at work to mitigate a small risk when wearing a helmet while driving to work and everywhere else will provide a much larger safety benefit?
> 
> It’s all just feel-good bullcrap. The doctor is just looking to put his name on something. He doesn’t care about your health. He is the same type of person that will say how firearms in the home are dangerous to children while ignoring the fact that more kids get killed by swimming pools and household poisons, which he never even mentions and he leaves accessible to his own kids. It’s all about sensationalism.


Exactly true!

The VAST majority of safety regulation is nothing more than a way for some useless pile of cat manure to stroke his already oversize ego. Safety is the vehicle of choice because we, as a society, have been brainwashed to believe that more regulation is always the answer to everything.


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## CTshockhazard (Aug 28, 2009)

The only real _regulation_ needed regarding safety should be that you cannot prevent someone from using saftey gear.


There's nothing stopping anyone from gearing up in as much safety equipment as they feel necessary to wear.


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

Japanese construction workers


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

remember those safety guys who told you not to ever ever straddle a ladder ?











this one is just funny










funny videos


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## Wiresmith (Feb 9, 2013)

i have a safety rule(s) to end all safety rules.

"employers should properly train employees to perform their tasks safely, supervise and test their employees to verify competency and supply all items and additional personnel requisite."

that's it, covers everything.


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## Galt (Sep 11, 2013)

I think welfare pukes should wear helmets at all times.


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## Wiresmith (Feb 9, 2013)

Galt said:


> I think welfare pukes should wear helmets at all times.


+ yellow vests and harness'

yep, i think we just solved an eighth of the worlds problems.

good work today guys.


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