Toolbox Talk · ~5 minutes

# 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.

[Print the sign-in sheet](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=toolbox-talk-sign-in#form-library)
[All toolbox talks](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks.html)

## 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:

[Toolbox talk sign-in sheet](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=toolbox-talk-sign-in#form-library)
[Ladder inspection record](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=ladder-inspection-record#form-library)
[Ladder pre-use check](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools?form=ladder-inspection#form-library)

## A new talk every week.

The toolbox talks page rotates a featured topic weekly — bookmark it, or grab the talk by email every Monday.

[This week’s talk](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks.html)
[Next: Heat Stress](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/heat-stress.html)

[Lightning & Severe Weather](https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/lightning-severe-weather.html)
[All 126 contractor forms](https://bluecraneworks.ca/tools#form-library)

## Next, from Blue Crane

- [**Field Level Hazard Assessment**The form the crew fills in before the work starts](https://bluecraneworks.ca/field-level-hazard-assessment-flha.html)

- [**Safe Work Procedure template**Write the procedure this talk refers to](https://bluecraneworks.ca/safe-work-procedure-template.html)

- [**Document Control Systems**Sign-offs, certs and safety records, provable in under a minute](https://bluecraneworks.ca/solutions/document-control.html)

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Source: https://bluecraneworks.ca/toolbox-talks/ladder-safety