Ladder Injury Statistics

• 
  According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, there are more than 164,000 visits to the Emergency Room every year due to the accidents involving ladders.
• 
  The number one cause of deaths from construction accidents is falls from elevation. In fact, of the people that fall from a height of 12’ or higher, 50% will die.
• 
  It is widely accepted among Safety Professionals, Work Comp Underwriters, and Risk Managers that the average employer cost of a lost-time back injury is about $70,000 per occurrence.
• 
  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Private Industry Accidents in the Sate of California:
  • a. 
    Lost-time occurrences involving ladder accidents happen at a rate of 11.83 per 10,000 full time workers.
  • b. 
    Those numbers translate into a cost of $82,600 per 1,000 full time workers.
  • c. 
    Those numbers also translate into higher insurance costs for employers, lowered employee morale, and higher OSHA Frequency Rates which can limit some contractors’ ability to bid work.

Safety Quick Links Resources

OSHA
This is the homepage for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on the United States Department of Labor website.

OSHA Residential P Standard
OSHA's enforcement extension of the new Fall Protection directive ended Friday, 3/15/2013. Residential building contractors must now fully comply and protect workers exposed to fall hazards 6 feet or more above lower levels. The interim fall protection directive is rescinded and replaced with the new standard which was originally developed in 2010.

OSHA, Quick Card for Portable Ladder Safety.
This is a good resource for a review of ladder safety for employees.

Tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Alert to prevent Ladder Injuries.
This is a good resource for a review of ladder safety for employees.

Preventing Falls from Ladders in Construction, A Guide to Training Site Supervisors.
A very comprehensive and thoughtful guide for ladder safety done by the Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health. This manual's objectives are to describe how the ladder safety study was conducted and to present the results. This is a great resource for any industry whose production is focused on using ladders.

Consumer Products Safety Commission FAQ’s regarding reporting of products.
This article details many of the questions asked by manufacturers regarding reporting of products to the CPSC. The article includes CPSC contact information.

National Association of Home Builders Scaffold and Ladder Safety Training
This is a comprehensive Power Point Presention that you can download and use for things like employee training and company safety meetings.

OSHA Stairways and Ladders
A 15 page guide to OSHA rules

U.S. Department of Labor Misuse of Portable Ladders
A short guide on how to avoid ladder hazards

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Workplace Safety & Health Topics
This is a very comprehensive guide to safety and health for the agriculture industry. There are many helpful items that apply to all lines of business.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Preventing Construction Falls
This is another comprehensive resource from the CDC, specifically addressing construction falls.

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), Ladder Safety Guide
This is a quick reading guide to basic ladder information and safety

About.com, Ladder Safety
More basic ladder safety principles

National Safety Council (NSC)
This is the web homepage to the National safety Council, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to save lives by preventing injuries and deaths at work, in homes and communities and on the road through leadership, research, education and advocacy.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
ANSI oversees the creation, promulgation and use of thousands of norms and guidelines that directly impact businesses in nearly every sector: from acoustical devices to construction equipment, from dairy and livestock production to energy distribution, and many more. ANSI is also actively engaged in accrediting programs that assess conformance to standards – including globally-recognized cross-sector programs such as the ISO 9000 (quality) and ISO 14000 (environmental) management systems.

American Ladder Institute (ALI)
ALI is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved developer of safety standards for the ladder industry. Standards are technical specifications which prescribe rules governing the safe construction, design, testing, care and use of various types of ladders.