Ladders, accident

As part of the company s effort to control and prevent ladder accidents, the posters in Tables 18.2, 18.3, and 18.4 should be posted around the work area as constant reminders of what should be occurring regarding the safe use of ladders. 

If a damaged or unsafe ladder is identified, it should be removed from service and a tag should be affixed to it stating Removed from Service. Do not Use. The supervisor must be informed of the unsafe ladder. The supervisor must ensure that the ladder is not used and that it is either disposed of or repaired to a safe condition. Any ladder accidents must be fully investigated by the supervisor and recommendations to prevent further occurrence made and implemented. 

Falls from ladders caused 13 deaths in 2005 and a third of all major injuries caused by falls at work were due to falls from ladders (1200). Ten ladder accidents are reported to the HSE every day. 

The main cause of accidents involving ladders is ladder movement whilst in use. This occurs when they have not been secured to a fixed point particularly at the foot. Other causes include over-reaching by the worker, slipping on a rung, ladder defects and, in the case of metal ladders, contact with electricity. The main category of ladder accidents is falls. 

An LTI is a lost time incident, mentioned earlier as an accident which causes one or more days away from work. A non-LTI injury does not result in time away from work. A near hit (often called a near miss) is an incident which causes no injury, but had the potential to do so (e.g. a falling object hitting the ground, but missing personnel). An example of an unsafe act would be a poorly secured ladder, where no incident occurs, but which potentially could have been the cause of an incident. 

At about the same time, Edouard Benedictus, a French chemist, was climbing a ladder to get chemicals from a shelf and accidentally (another discovery due to an accident) knocked a glass flask onto the floor. He heard the flask shatter but when he looked at the broken flask, the broken pieces hung together instead of breaking into many pieces and scattering over the floor. Benedictus learned from his assistant that the flask had recently held a solution of... 

Circumstances of the accident One day in Autumn 1993 Rhys was participating in a gymnastics lesson when he fell from a ladder supported by a fixed and portable apparatus frame and broke his arm. At the time, Rhys was performing what is known as a low impact movement, which involved climbing the apparatus. The medical report indicates that when climbing the ladder Rhys s hands were somewhat slippery and he slipped off the climbing ladder. Rhys claims that he was at the top of the ladder and intended to climb over the top of the frame to the other side. Mr C claims that the general policy is that children do not climb over the top of the frame because of the wires. 

Short ladders may be carried by one person resting the ladder on the shoulder, but longer ladders should be camied by two people, one at each end, to avoid accidents when turning corners. 

OSHA standards address a variety of work and processes that occnr in residential to commercial constrnction. Constrnction employers must comply with these standards and related general industry standards that also apply. The OSHA general industry standards (29 CFR 1910) and construction standards (29 CFR 1926) fnnction as separate standards with some notable differences. There exist differences between standards in the areas of fall protection, confined space, GFCI reqnirements, PPE, stairways and ladders, fire extinguishers, accident prevention signs/tags, eye wash stations, and illnmination reqnirements. 

Ladders are an indispensable help for construction crews. While they are uncomplicated and simple to use, you can t take ladder safety for granted. They are a major source of accidents at construction sites. They are also a source for numerous OSHA citations. In December 2010, the following ladder violations were in the top 25 OSHA construction citations ... 

Stairways, like ladders, are a source of accidents at construction sites. They are also a source for... 

Getting to and from a scaffold working surface is a critical event for your employees. This is the time most scaffold accidents happen. The previous scaffold standard only required that an access ladder or equivalent safe access be provided. ... 

Getting to the work level of a scaffold has always been a serious problem. This is the time most scaffold accidents happen. If you re not provided with a proper stairway or ladder, might be tempted to use crossbraces to climb the scaffold. This is strictly forbidden in the scaffold standard. 

This seeks through regulations to protect agricultural workers and others working on the land. Regulations have been made to cover avoidance of accidents to children, circular saws, first aid, field and stationary machinery, threshers and bailers, power take-offs, ladders, lifting heavy weights and tractor cabs. 

Lopez, M.A., Ritzel, DO., Gonzalez, I.F., Gonzales Alcan tera, O. J. 2011. Occupational accidents with ladders in Spain Risk factors. Journal of Safety Research (42) 391-398. 

Injuries sustained in falling occur on a scale to merit widespread concern UK statistics for all such accidents—at work or elsewhere— indicate that falls in 1979 produced more than heilf a million serious injuries and nearly 6000 fatalities. Within the manufacturing industries that year there were 38 321 falls which caused an absence from work of more than three days and 30 fatalities. It is falls from a height (from ladders, stairs, scaffolding, etc., or from one level to another) which most commonly cause death, and these are atypical of the majority of falling accidents in the rubber industry. Indeed, within this industry fatal accidents from any cause are thankfully rare. ... 

LOCA (loss of coolant accident), 865 Local government regulatory agencies, 851 Local optimum, optimization, 466 Locus of maxima, 632 Logic ladder diagrams, 32... 

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