Three major mistakes workers make on ladders

As you strive to be a safe employee who doesn’t get injured on the job, it’s important to know the type of mistakes other individuals sometimes make, leading to serious injuries. By considering these cases, you may be able to avoid such mistakes yourself.

Many workers have to use ladders in their industry, and there’s no way around that. These ladders will always increase the job-site risks because workers could fall and suffer traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and more. Here are three of the main mistakes that people make that lead to these faults.

Climbing the wrong side of the ladder

Ladders have safety warnings telling you not to climb the backside. It does have support braces, but they’re not nearly strong enough to reliably support a human being. Don’t be tempted, even if it seems convenient. Move the ladder, instead.

Setting up on an unstable foundation

A ladder that is set on an unstable or slippery foundation can easily slide out from under the user. There may be nothing wrong with the latter itself, but simply putting it in the wrong place can lead to a fall.

Leaning from the top of the ladder

If you find a ladder to do a job and you just barely can’t reach the site where you’re trying to work, you’ll probably be tempted to lean. You’ll try to reach as far as you can to the side so that you don’t have to climb all the way down and move the ladder. However, this is very dangerous because it over-balances is the ladder to one side, so you should always move it to avoid a fall.

If you do get seriously injured in a fall on the job, you deserve workers’ compensation. Be sure you know what steps to take to get it.