Ladder Safety
Falls from ladders put more trades in the hospital than almost anything else on site — and almost every one traces back to a shortcut somebody had gotten away with a hundred times before.
How to run it
Read it through once, then talk it — don't recite it. Five minutes at the start of the shift, crew standing where the work happens. Under O. Reg. 213/91, s. 14(3)–(4), the talk is held by a supervisor or a competent person the supervisor appoints — and the sign-in sheet is what proves it happened.
Talk through these points
- Pick the right ladder for the job — height, duty rating, and material. A metal ladder near electrical work is the classic fatal mismatch.
- Inspect before you climb: rails, rungs, feet, spreaders, labels. A damaged ladder gets tagged and pulled, not 'used carefully.'
- Set it up right: firm level base, 4-to-1 angle for extension ladders, secured top and bottom, extending a metre past the landing.
- Three points of contact, every time. Tools go up on a hoist line or in a holster — not in your hand.
- Don't overreach. Belt buckle stays between the rails; move the ladder instead of leaning off it.
- Know when a ladder is the wrong answer — long-duration work, heavy tools, or awkward positions call for a platform or scaffold instead.
Ask the crew
- When did we last actually tag a ladder out of service?
- Which job this week is a ladder job that maybe shouldn't be?
- Who checked the feet on the extension ladder in the trailer?
The answers are the real talk. If a question lands on a live hazard, write it down and assign it a name and a date.
Paper it
A talk without a record didn't happen, as far as anyone who asks is concerned. Print these free:
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