Ladder Safety: 10 Numbers to Know

Most of what we do with lighting and electrical projects involve using a ladder. There are some important and interesting numbers associated with ladders and safety when using them. Here are 10 to know: 

1. 10,000+. This is the number of years ladders have been in use. We know this because one is depicted in cave paintings found in Valencia, Spain showing two men using one to access a honey bee nest. Even in the Mesolithic Era, ladder safety was an issue! 

2. 1910.23(b) and 1926.1053. These are the OSHA standards pertaining to ladders.  
    
   OSHA standard 1910 refers to ladder use in General Industry and includes Occupational Safety and Health Standard for ladders. 
    
   This section addresses how employers must ensure that each ladder used meets the requirements of the section. It covers the general requirements for all ladders that are not used in emergency situations or designed as part of machines or equipment, including portable and fixed ladders as well as mobile ladder stands and mobile ladder stand platforms. 
    
   Standard 1926 is specific to construction. The requirements it details apply to all ladders as indicated, including job-made ladders. This includes requirements for load, spacing of rungs, cleats and steps, clearance, safety features and use requirements. 
    
   If you haven’t already familiarized yourself with these standards, click on the links above and read up! 

3. Ladders are Number 3 on OSHA’s Top 10 list of violations. In 2023, ladders accounted for 2,978 violations, or an average of 12 every workday.  

4.  The most violated OSHA regulation was also the one most likely to cause injury and/or death: That a ladder going from a lower surface to an upper surface must either extend at least three feet beyond surface or be secured at the top AND have a hand/guide rail within reach.  
    
   The second biggest violation was that ladders must be used for the purpose for which they were designed…NOT as a scaffold, walkway, or bridge, or to add extra height on a scaffold. 

5. $7.2 million. This is how much in fines were issued in 2021 for OSHA violations related to ladders. 

6. 22,000. This is the number of people in the US who are injured annually while using ladders while on the job.  

6. 164,000. On the job and in home use, this is the number of ER visits per year related to ladders. 

7. $17 billion. In the US alone, more than $17 billion (yes, a billion) spent as a result of falls from ladders. 

8. 161. This is the number of workplace fatalities associated with ladders in 2020. In the last 10 years, 43% of fatal falls were from ladders. 

9. 100%. OSHA believes (and so do I) that ladder injuries caused by improper use are 100% preventable. Ladder safety impacts everyone. Employers don’t want the added expense and elevated insurance rates that come with injuries. No worker wants to go through the pain, inconvenience or lost time. Their families also suffer mentally, emotionally and financially along with them. 

We all play a role in ladder safety on the job. This includes: 

• Ensuring good and safe equipment. Ladders are not THAT expensive, especially when compared to medical costs 

• Providing proper training 

• Building awareness of job conditions and surroundings 

• Having enough equipment for the job 

10. Your EMC Project Manager's Phone Number. Whether it has to do with ladder safety or any safety accident taking place at an EMC job site, we want to hear from you first. We do not penalize labor partners for reporting safety issues.  
    
    Reporting safety incidents helps us be proactive in our communications and actions with our customers. We don’t want it to be an OSHA visit that informs a customer of an incident at their property.  

Instead, we can let them know what happened in a timely manner, explain what we are doing to deal with the situation and alert them to any onsite conditions that contributed to the incident they need to address to help ensure safety going forward.  

You help make ladder safety everyone’s business and it gives us an opportunity to help make the work we do safer for all of us. 

Check out our Ladder Safety Infographic.

Gary Giesen, CLMC CALT, is Principal Master Electrician and Field Quality Lead for EMC. In addition to a passion for Safety, Gary brings more than 40 years of Safety/EMS experience, with more than 20 years as an OSHA 10/30 Instructor, and almost 30 years as an EMT and CPR instructor.