Although this bulletin is probably more pertinent to those employees working in the University's Department of Facilities Maintenance , we are sending it out to all University employees in hopes that it will be used as a guide for home ladder safety as well. We urge you to check your own ladders, remembering that statistics prove that more injuries occur in the home than in the workplace.
We are asking that all departments on campus that have portable ladders take the time to inspect them to assure that they are structurally safe for use. Listed below are the items that you should use as the criteria for this inspection:
2. Joints between the steps (rungs) and the side rails should be tight. Rungs should not move when twisted by hand.
3. All hardware and fittings should be securely attached.
4. All moveable parts should operate freely without binding or undue play. Lubricate if necessary.
5. Frayed or badly worn rope should be replaced.
6. Safety feet should be sound and unbroken.
7. Rungs/steps should be free of grease, oil, or any other substance that would make them slippery. Wooden ladders having oil or grease on standing and/or gripping surfaces should be steam cleaned to remove the substance. Under no circumstances should corrosive or alkali materials be used to remove grease or oil, as these may compromise the structural integrity of the ladder. Rungs/steps on metal ladders must be corrugated, knurled, or coated with a slip-resistant material.
8. No rungs/steps may be missing.
9. Stepladders should have a metal spreader or locking device of sufficient size and strength to securely hold the front and back sections in an open position.
10. The spreader should not have any sharp objects protruding from it.
11. No ladder should be painted or coated with any material that may cover up obvious defects.
All ladders should be inspected using these criteria before each use. Any ladder that has any defect that would compromise the safety of the ladder must be taken out of service immediately and marked with a red tag bearing the words "DANGEROUS---DO NOT USE". Employees may not make repairs to ladders on their own. Defective ladders, after they have been red-tagged, should be reported by the employee to his/her supervisor. The supervisor/department head will decide if the ladder is to be replaced or repaired. If it is decided that the ladder is to be repaired, the Director of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety will be informed prior to any repairs being made to assure that the repairs are performed in accordance with OSHA regulations. In most instances, repairs should be made by the manufacturer.
We hope that this bulletin will aid you in performing ladder inspections across campus. Once it is determined that your department possesses one or more portable ladders, an inspection should be performed on each ladder immediately. Copies of the complete OSHA "Ladder Standard" (1910.25 and 1910.26) and the American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) "Ladder Safety Requirement" (A14.2 1990) are available in the EOHS office for those who wish more information on ladder safety. If you have any questions or need any assistance in this project, please do not hesitate to call us at Ext. 3700. Once again we would like to take the opportunity to thank you for assisting us in this project and helping us to make the campus a safer place.
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