Standing on a stepladder...

[LVSteve]

...is not the same as standing on the ground. Spent a chunk of Monday morning climbing up/down and standing on a stepladder to replace a magnetic ballast with an electronic one. About 2030 at night my calves and thighs began a discussion about the morning's efforts.

For sure there were quite a few trips up and down the ladder to check on the required wiring and to fetch tools. However, one of my coworkers put it very well., "When you're on a ladder, your legs are locked up in a way they just aren't when standing on the ground. All kinds of little muscles are doing their thing to stop you falling off". I guess I found some that don't get worked out on the exercise bike. Ibuprofen is your friend unless you work on ladders every day.

 

[fordson]

Be careful on any type of ladder. Falls are far easier then we think. Aching calf muscles are a pain, literally, but tore muscles or ruptured disc are far more painful. Be careful up there.

 

[Nevada Ed]

With 33 years in construction, I learned that 90% of the accidents were caused by..........

using ladders thet were too short for the job or

not tieing off the ladder, to keep it from moving.

People don't know that just a six foot fall is enough to kill you.

 

[BC38]

...People don't know that just a six foot fall is enough to kill you.

Or enough to cripple you.
I fell 6-8 feet off a ladder and came straight down on my right leg with my knee locked.

The impact tried to drive my femur (thighbone) straight down through my tibia (shinbone).

I ended up with a level 5 "bicondylar tibial plateau fracture". Basically the whole top of my shinbone (tibia) - which is the bottom half of the knee joint - was reduced to pulp. 4 chunks were broken off the top of the bone.

It took 2 surgeons 4 hours to put it back together using 9 screws to secure all of the pieces to 2 T-shaped plates holding everything in position while it healed and fused back into one bone again.

I had to wait a month for the swelling to go down enough for them to do the surgery, then I wasn't allowed to put ANY weight on it for another 3 months. 4 months total on crutches. Then another 2-3 months of PT and walking with a cane.

Ladders are not to be taken lightly.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

When my brother-in-law got out of the Army, He found work as a painter of new construction. Being 6'3" got him all the high work. He used his canvas topped combat boots (Jungle Boots) with the steel shanks in the soles, and never had his calves ache on him. Proper arch support is important. When I painted normal 8' rooms, I used an 18" bench to stand on. My knees got tired of all the up and down, but in general my legs were fine.

The B-I-L and I used to get in beer based discussions about the other type of painters (new work vs repainting) not making any money! I guess it is a matter of what you are used too. After 8 years of not painting at all, The wife had me re-paint our condo. It took 4 times as long as I estimated, and I was exhausted 6 days straight! (It is less than 1800 sq. ft. I thought a long day and a half tops!) The most important thing is: 6 years later, she is still happy with it!

Ivan

 

[Greyman50]

FWIW, OSHA requires a safety person to hold the ladder, or they used to. The industrial accidents I investigated or saw would make a good book.....

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

Accidents happen when you stand on your step-ladder, rather than your real ladder.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[Rolex28]

I have had a rule effective 10 years ago. Keep one foot on the ground at all times except when swimming, in a car , in bed or in my recliner.

 

[NYlakesider]

Watch TV, not just those home repair shows and you will see all sorts of misuse of ladders. Be that step or extension ladders.

Retire construction worker with over 50 years of ladder, scaffold and lifting device experience.

Common to see people standing of the top of a step ladder or a couple steps below. Working under OSHA rules on many occasions you have to have a safety harness on and being used, you never see that. Never see a extension ladder tied off or footed against a unmovable object and/or a "gopher" holding the ladder.

Could say a lot more but you get the drift!

 

[Bekeart]

A GOOD ladder is cheaper than the Emergency Room!

A GOOD ladder is cheaper than the Emergency Room!

I am fanatical about GOOD ladders.
Buy and use the right height ladder.
Ladders come with different ratings for user weight.

Some low priced aluminum ladders "wiggle".
I will not use a wiggly ladder, that scares me.
I only own and use fiberglass.
Less wiggle - Safer around electricity.
I give four foot fiberglass ones to lady friends their in house uses.
They can stand at a safe level and still change bulbs and hang drapes.
Four foot is so much easier to carry and maneuver in the house.
Being easy to carry and maneuver, means the ladder more likely be used.

Bekeart

 

[NYlakesider]

A GOOD ladder is cheaper than the Emergency Room!

I am fanatical about GOOD ladders.
Buy and use the right height ladder.
Ladders come with different ratings for user weight.

Some low priced aluminum ladders "wiggle".
I will not use a wiggly ladder, that scares me.
I only own and use fiberglass.
Less wiggle - Safer around electricity.
I give four foot fiberglass ones to lady friends their in house uses.
They can stand at a safe level and still change bulbs and hang drapes.
Four foot is so much easier to carry and maneuver in the house.
Being easy to carry and maneuver, means the ladder more likely be used.

Bekeart

Have a bunch of ladders at my house, both step and extension.

Have found that we are using a Baker scaffold more and more for in house work. As I have a replaced knee the Baker is much more comfortable for me.

On job sites I used Bakers for decades, so years ago I bought one for home use!

 

[Onomea]

...Common to see people standing on the top of a step ladder or a couple steps below.

I'd like to use my small (four steps) step ladder safely, but you are not leaving a whole lot of options for a safe place to stand. Hmm. Are you saying that to use a step ladder safely, one should not stand on the top two steps? I think you are talking about tall step ladders, right? While I'd prefer not to stand on the top step of my four-step step ladder, at times I do, and it feels pretty stable.

I think a key point is to accept that what you can't reach easily should best be left alone. My BIL some years ago was trimming a tree in his garden from a step ladder, strove to reach too far, and was in an ICU for a coupla days.

 

[kenjen]

had a 20' wooden ladder my gave me, it had round rungs that within 5 mins. my feet were killing me. cut it in pieces and used them for decorations

 

[Muss Muggins]

The older I get, the more my stepladders look like portable staircases . . .

 

[NYlakesider]

I'd like to use my small (four steps) step ladder safely, but you are not leaving a whole lot of options for a safe place to stand. Hmm. Are you saying that to use a step ladder safely, one should not stand on the top two steps? I think you are talking about tall step ladders, right? While I'd prefer not to stand on the top step of my four-step step ladder, at times I do, and it feels pretty stable.

I think a key point is to accept that what you can't reach easily should best be left alone. My BIL some years ago was trimming a tree in his garden from a step ladder, strove to reach too far, and was in an ICU for a coupla days.

Pretty much! Like 5' or taller. Basically the shorter ladders are more in the step stool category.

Ps. in all ladders make sure you have sufficient weigh carrying capacity. You get what you pay for.

 

[mtgianni]

I really don't miss working up ladders with 24" pipe wrenches. It wasn't often but it would wear on you.

 

[mckenney99]

I have never been a fan of heights. After my second fall from ladder/roof and a cracked hip, ladders and I have come to an agreement. I won't climb on them and they won't throw me off.

 

[PALADIN85020]

Accidents happen when you stand on your step-ladder, rather than your real ladder.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

I never knew my real ladder; I grew up with just a step-ladder.

John

 

[16thVACav]

As you get older, the pull of gravity gets stronger and the ground becomes harder.

 

[delcrossv]

Spent a day installing wiremold and fixtures a couple of weeks ago- all ladder work.

Sure felt it the next day.

I'll agree with this: A cheap ladder is no bargain.

 

[ladder13]

Pretty much! Like 5' or taller. Basically the shorter ladders are more in the step stool category.

Ps. in all ladders make sure you have sufficient weigh carrying capacity. You get what you pay for.

Yah, when you weigh 250+ don’t be cheap and buy a 200lb rated ladder to save a few bucks.

 

[WardenRoss]

As a teenager I worked part-time for the maintenance guy at a small airport. His name was Jess. He was a real mean ole-son-of-a-gun.

"You see that thair busted out light bulb at the top of that hanger?" as we walked outside pointing up towards the sky. "Well Grits, (he called me Grits because I was from the south) you gonna git that twenty-four footer and shimmy up and change it out."

Having never even seen a ladder that long, I was in for a treat. I fetched the monster ladder and boy-handled it around and somehow got it in place and raised it as far as it would go.

"You ain't through yet?" Jess yelled at me as he returned, hands on his hips. I started climbing and got to the top and had to go past where I was completely sure the ladder was designed for. That aluminum ladder was a shaker too. Or maybe it was my knees.

I could see the glass part of the bulb was gone with only the socket part of the bulb remaining. "Hey Jess, I'm gonna need some needle-nose or something. This bulb socket is stuck!"

"DAD-BURN-IT GRITS! YOU AIN'T GOT ENOUGH SENCE TO TOTE TOOLS UP THAIR WITH YOU! GIT DOWN HERE!" Jess screamed at me.

I returned to mother earth and headed for the truck's tool box to fetch some needle nose AND the spare gigantic bulb. Then back up the ladder.

Jess was walking around in circles mumbling unspeakable phrases. "Hey Jess! You sure you cut the power to this here light? I yelled down. "You think I'm a dad-blamed idiot? 'Course I dun turned off the electricity! Quit worrying about the mule and just load the wagon son!" It was a phrase that he used a lot.

So with my shaking knees and trembling hands, I stuck the metal-handled needle-nose pliers into the light socket. Jab, jab, pull, pull, swing, swing, wiggle, wiggle and finally, I broke it loose. The hanger was built in 1918 and I'm sure this must have been the original bulb.

Carefully, I slid the pliers in my back pocket and grabbed the two-fisted bulb that I had been balancing on the step between my legs. I start screwing the bulb into the socket and POP, it lit-up! Bright enough to blind me so's I almost fell backward, off the ladder.

I looked down at Jess. His jaw had dropped to his stomach! "You trying to kill me Jess?" I shouted down.

"Come on down, boy! I"m buying you lunch!" I think that was about as close to an admission of guilt that anyone would ever hear from Jess.

 

[walkin jack]

...is not the same as standing on the ground. Spent a chunk of Monday morning climbing up/down and standing on a stepladder to replace a magnetic ballast with an electronic one. About 2030 at night my calves and thighs began a discussion about the morning's efforts.

For sure there were quite a few trips up and down the ladder to check on the required wiring and to fetch tools. However, one of my coworkers put it very well., "When you're on a ladder, your legs are locked up in a way they just aren't when standing on the ground. All kinds of little muscles are doing their thing to stop you falling off". I guess I found some that don't get worked out on the exercise bike. Ibuprofen is your friend unless you work on ladders every day.

I had a barn built in my back yard in 2015. The guy wanted to charge me waaaayyyyy too much to paint it so I let him go and painted it myself.

Typical barn design; 12' peaks front and back. I thought it would be a snap. I built a 12' ladder out of 2"x4" yellow pine. It was a good solid ladder.

I got about half way up it and then...uh oh! I was almost shaking when I got to the top. I got the job done and it turned out great and I didn't even fall once.

But the first thing I did was take it apart and stack it for fire wood to burn in my chiminea. l don't get past the 2nd step on any ladder now.

 

[Step N. Mud]

Much respect for step ladders. As a young construction man, I was the worlds worst for using a 5 gallon bucket as a step stool until I had a bucket collapse and fell across some open floor joist. Nothing broke but knocked the wind out of me and couldn't eat for 2 weeks because of chest bruising . I think I was lucky that time and haven't been on a bucket for 50 years.
On another note, I always get a chuckle and study the ladders being used in old westerns were a man crawls up on make shift ladders in a old fort or somewhere a ladder is needed. Might be obsessed with the old settings on movies.

 

[walkin jack]

Or enough to cripple you.
I fell 6-8 feet off a ladder and came straight down on my right leg with my knee locked.

The impact tried to drive my femur (thighbone) straight down through my tibia (shinbone).

I ended up with a level 5 "bicondylar tibial plateau fracture". Basically the whole top of my shinbone (tibia) - which is the bottom half of the knee joint - was reduced to pulp. 4 chunks were broken off the top of the bone.

It took 2 surgeons 4 hours to put it back together using 9 screws to secure all of the pieces to 2 T-shaped plates holding everything in position while it healed and fused back into one bone again.

I had to wait a month for the swelling to go down enough for them to do the surgery, then I wasn't allowed to put ANY weight on it for another 3 months. 4 months total on crutches. Then another 2-3 months of PT and walking with a cane.

Ladders are not to be taken lightly.

I thought I was the only one with tibial plateau issue. I got in a pile up on my motocross bike and my left leg was broken out sideways a the knee. Little pieces of bone and "stuff" sticking out.

I was only 30 years old so they would not give me a new knee. What the surgeon did was to gather up all the little pieces of shattered tibial plateau together and run a couple of bolts through them.

I was in a cast from my tail bone to my toes for 5 1/2 months. I couldn't get a finger in past the first knuckle. When the cast came off my thigh was the size of my arm. I could get my hand all the way down to my knee. I couldn't lift my leg up off the table. The quadricep muscle was dead.

I begged the surgeon to cut it off. tears in my eyes I begged him. He said it would be okay, in time and with therapy I'd learn how to walk again...eventually. He also told me that I wasn't through with it. I'd have to have it replace some day. He guessed 20 years.

That turned out to be a pretty god guess. And when it came time to replace it the tibial plateau required a bone graft. Learned how to walk a 3rd time.

Eventually the bone graft failed and had to be redone. Another new knee and another new bone graft (this one took). Learned how to walk a 4th time. I was getting pretty good at that. I was managing my own therapy and training sessions.

That one was in 1998 and I'm still goin' strong. Had it checked about 3 years ago and the Xrays all looked good. I don't play tennis, basket ball etc any more but I don't have a limp. And I don't have any pain. I also have near 100% range of motion.

I'm hopin' to finish the race and cross the finish line on this one. As good as I am now at pain management and therapy I don't relish the idea of going through that again...EVER.

 

[swsig]

I've had two knee replacements, and all these posts about leg injuries caused by ladders have left me all rung out.

 

[TheHobbyist]

Industry as a whole is moving away from ladders, with small mobile lifts being more commonly produced by the major aerial lift companies; and specialty manufacturers. OSHA is encouraging moving away from the humble ladder in favor of these, sometimes, one-person maintenance lifts.

I believe anywhere above 48" you are required to have a 5-point harness and tie off point. Also training with your training card on your person.

 

[ditrina]

The older I get, the more my stepladders look like portable staircases . . .

Why YES yes they do...

The best money this " OLD" guy ha sever spent.


Little Giant comes in three sizes.
This one is $129.00 on Amazon

 

[LVSteve]

Yah, when you weigh 250+ don’t be cheap and buy a 200lb rated ladder to save a few bucks.

Fortunately, I am a reasonably svelte 185 lbs right now.

 

[Rustyt1953]

There was a time when I installed sound systems in large auditoriums and big venues. I have trouble with heights and had to try to overcome it and press on.

I used step ladders, extension ladders, scaffolding, scissor lifts and articulated booms. Ladders with rounded rungs were the worst as they made my legs and back ache and made me pray for prehensile feet.

Reversing the ceiling fan blades is as high up as I go now.