The Occupational Safety Healthy Administration (OSHA) standard 1926.1053(a)(6)(i)states that
“The rungs and steps of fixed metal ladders manufactured after March 15, 1991, shall be corrugated, knurled, dimpled, coated with skid-resistant material, or otherwise treated to minimize slipping”.
According to OSHA’s guide to stairways and ladders, these following rules apply to all ladders:
According to safety meeting notes provided by the State Compensation Insurance Fund, entitled “Ladders – Make Ladder Safety a High Priority,” a majority of accidents that occur on work site locations are a direct result of improper ladder safety. They strongly believe that workers should consider the following: “Before using any ladder, check its condition. Make sure there are no broken, cracked, or missing rails and that the ladder rungs are not slippery from grease or oil.” The condition of ladder rungs is very important to avoid slip and fall accidents.
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Based on an article by members of the Alliance Program Construction Roundtable, through the OSHA Alliance Program, fall fatalities in the construction industry are more prevalent than they should be. Out of a total of 433 fatal falls for 2006, 68 were from ladders. These falls could be the result of ladder rungs without a slip resistant coating. Portable and fixed ladders are a necessity to the construction industry, making slips and falls a possibility on a daily basis.
The following statistics make it apparent why slip and fall prevention on ladders is crucial. When falling from a ladder, by the time you react, your body will be four feet below where you fell. A realistic reaction time for a human is one second. In one second, under the force of gravity, a body will fall 16 feet. Using a reaction time of .5 seconds, on the higher side, your body center will travel four feet downward.
Non slip metal ladder rungs and covers are a permanent sturdy solution to slips and falls. Slip resistant ladder rungs can be easily incorporated into building and designing new ladders, and are also designed to be easily retrofitted over existing dangerous ladder rungs. Non slip ladder rungs and covers are a small cost in comparison to the costs of an injury or even worse, a fatality. Architects can help eliminate fatalities by specifying slip resistant ladder rungs to be incorporated into new projects to ensure the safety of pedestrians and workers. Construction site managers are also responsible for equipping personal portable ladders used to complete jobs with slip resistance, and keeping employees safe.
Alliance Program Construction Roundtable. “Prevention of Fall Fatalities and Injuries in Construction”
When developing a safety plan or objective, checklists are an important component to staying organized and analyzing a situation. In order to keep a job site safe, materials and tools must be checked multiple times throughout the course of a project to avoid accidents. One of the most frequently employed tools on a construction site is a ladder. The main component of a ladder is the ladder rungs. Ladder rungs must be properly maintained to ensure safety during use. Due to constant climbing up and down these ladder rungs, wear and tear can happen. Checklists are essential in keeping track of all of the simple but potentially dangerous details of ladder rungs.
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