The American Ladder Institute (ALI) is made up of 16 ladder manufacturers responsible for developing ladder safety standards. ALI recently announced the launch of an initiative to address ladder-related incidents: the first National Ladder Safety Month. As reported in the March 2017 issue of Safety & Health magazine from the National Safety Council, the goal of this annual campaign is to:
- Decrease the number of ladder-related injuries and fatalities
- Increase the number of ladder safety training certificates issued by ALI
- Increase the frequency of ladder safety training modules viewed at www.laddersafetytraining.org
- Lower the ranking of ladder-related safety citations on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) annual “Top 10” list
- Increase the number of training sessions for competent ladder inspectors
- Increase the number of individuals and companies that inspect and properly dispose of old, damaged or obsolete ladders
Ladder Safety Challenge
Now, here is your challenge. For this challenge, a ladder is defined as a straight ladder, step ladder or step stool. If your employees use or have access to any type of ladder, take the time to:
- Inspect all ladders to make sure they are in good condition
- Conduct ladder safety training with your employees. Don’t know where to begin? There are several free resources available to you:
- ALI provides free ladder safety training materials. Click here.
- Free streaming videos are available from Society Insurance Risk Control. Click here.
- OSHA has a number of free ladder safety publications suitable for employee training. Click here.
Accept the challenge! Invest the time and rule out a preventable injury or death!
