Ladder Safety Training

WRITTEN BY GARY SMITH, APARTMENT BUILDING MANAGEMENT WORKERS COMPENSATION SELF INSURED FUND

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) annually reports that over 100,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms, doctors’ offices, and clinics as a result of falls from ladders due to not following proper safety precautions. Most of the injuries are cuts, bruises, and fractures. However, more than 300 annual fatalities occur from ladder related injuries.

How are you and your employees accessing top shelf items, changing out light bulbs, installing decorations, etc.?

Hopefully, not with a chair or a stool, but instead with an appropriate ladder! Improper ladder use appears to be all too common of a practice as evident from the numbers of injuries. How many unsafe acts or close calls from improperly using ladders underlie those statistics? The answer is countless numbers of unsafe acts and close calls underlie those statistics. Each time improper ladder use does not result in injury, that unsafe behavior is reinforced and then soon it becomes habit.

The Ladder Safety Online Training website from the American Ladder Institute (ALI) is a free training site intended to provide you with the proper techniques to select, inspect, set-up, use, and care for the various ladder styles. Employees using stepladders, single/extension ladders and articulated ladders should be trained on proper use. A pre- and post-test are available; and this training can be conducted in a group or individual setting. Training certificates are generated for each person who successfully completes the online tests.

To get started, just follow these five steps:

1. Identify the employees in your workplace who use ladders; make a list.

2. Go to www.laddersafetytraining.org and click on New Users to register for FREE
access to Ladder Safety Training. Enter the information and check the Training
Manager box if you are responsible for providing ladder safety training to
others within your organization or company. You will be allowed to setup and
manage training participants, as well as review their progression and test scores.

3.  Require employees to complete the modules for each ladder type in use.

4. Maintain copies of training certificates as proof of completion.

5. As a supervisor, be prepared to lead by example (i.e., you must properly use
ladders) and enforce the proper use by those you supervise.

So, take advantage of this effective online training tool to proactively prevent injuries and control your workers’ compensation premium costs!

This entry was posted in July 2012. Bookmark the permalink.