Technologies for Reducing Fall Risks Associated with Extension Ladders

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hsiao H ; McDougall V ; Pizatella T ; Simeonov P ; Stout N ; Weeks J
• Description:
  Falls from ladders are a frequent cause of work-related fatalities in the U.S. There were 133 fatal falls from ladders for the U.S. labor force in 2004. In addition, there are more than 164,000 emergency room-treated injuries each year in the U.S. relating to ladders. A significant portion of these incidents occurred at building construction and maintenance worksites during the use of extension ladders. The leading causes of falls involving extension ladders include: the ladder base slipping out, ladders tipping, workers slipping while on ladders or transitioning from a ladder to a surface at height, and mechanical failures. This paper presents literature related to practical technologies that may reduce falls from extension ladders, and should be useful as a practical compendium of source information for improving extension ladder safety. Knowledge gap analyses of the ladder-safety literature suggested that additional research efforts are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of these innovations in terms of engineering performance, user behavior, cost, acceptability, and withstanding tough work environments. Development of low-cost supplemental fall protection technologies for reducing the severity of fall injuries by absorbing impact energy in a ladder-related fall incident may also be a potential strategy. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Engineering Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Construction-industry Construction-workers Control-technology Engineering-controls Extension-ladders Injuries Injury-prevention Ladders Traumatic-injuries
• ISBN:
  9780080450551
• Publisher:
  International Ergonomics Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20030958
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the 16th World Congress on Ergonomics (IEA2006), July 10-14, 2006, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Pikaar RN, Koningsveld EAP, Settels PJM, eds. Madison, WI: International Ergonomics Association, 2006 Jul; :1-6
• Editor(s):
  Pikaar RN; Koningsveld EAP; Settels PJM
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the 16th World Congress on Ergonomics (IEA2006), July 10-14, 2006, Maastricht, The Netherlands
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:80ad730aa5b18bd67e67b7746e89cfd79ccc6e262b5d9764310c28de5970575a0464335cdc0211e0fef2271967182a99383fdcc81c0e8018818158268a1a0e41
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191385/cdc_191385_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 696.53 KB ]