Safety
Ladder Safety — Pre-Use Inspection
Inspect every ladder before use and follow three-points-of-contact.
5 min Frank Marlow Reviewed by Rachel Kim, CHST, CSP v1.2 · reviewed 2026-06-10
The Problem
Ladder falls are one of the top injury sources on construction sites.
Root Causes
- Damaged rails, rungs or feet not inspected
- Wrong ladder duty rating for the work
- Not maintaining three points of contact
Correct Procedure
- 1Inspect rails, rungs, spreaders and feet before every use
- 2Verify duty rating matches worker + tools + material
- 3Set at 4:1 ratio (1 foot out for every 4 feet up)
- 4Extend 3 feet above the landing when accessing a roof or platform
- 5Maintain three points of contact when climbing
Discussion Questions
Use these to engage the crew and connect the lesson to today's site conditions.
- 1What defects would take a ladder out of service?
- 2What's the duty rating we need for today's work?
Sources & Review
Author: Frank Marlow (28+ yrs) · Reviewed by Rachel Kim, CHST, CSP.
Published 2024-03-30 · Last technical review 2026-06-10 · Version 1.2 · Languages: EN, ES
AI at QST only summarizes expert-approved content and never invents safety requirements.
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