Effects of foot placement, hand positioning, age and climbing biodynamics on ladder slip outcomes

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beschorner KE ; Campbell-Kyureghyan NH ; Pliner EM
• Description:
  Ladder falls frequently cause severe injuries; yet the factors that influence ladder slips/falls are not well understood. This study aimed to quantify (1) the effects of restricted foot placement, hand positioning, climbing direction and age on slip outcomes, and (2) differences in climbing styles leading to slips versus styles leading to non-slips. Thirty-two occupational ladder users from three age groups (18-24, 25-44 and 45-64 years) were unexpectedly slipped climbing a vertical ladder, while being assigned to different foot placement conditions (unrestricted vs. restricted toe clearance) and different hand positions (rails vs. rungs). Constraining foot placement increased the climber's likelihood of slipping ( p < 0.01), while younger and older participants slipped more than the middle-aged group ( p < 0.01). Longer double stance time, dissimilar and more variable foot and body positioning were found in styles leading to a slip. Maintaining sufficient toe clearance and targeting ladder safety training to younger and older workers may reduce ladder falls. Practitioner Summary: Ladder falls frequently cause severe occupational fall injuries. This study aims to identify safer ladder climbing techniques and individuals at risk of falling. The results suggest that ladders with unrestricted toe clearance and ladder climbing training programmes, particularly for younger and older workers, may reduce ladder slipping risk. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Age Factors Aging Biomechanical Phenomena Ergonomics Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Age-factors Age-groups Aging Author Keywords: Ladder Falls Biodynamics Biomechanics Body-mechanics Body-regions Climbing Climbing Biomechanics Fall-protection Injuries Injury-prevention Ladders Motion-studies Physiology Risk-analysis Risk-factors Slips, Trips And Falls

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• ISSN:
  0014-0139
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  57
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20044879
• Citation:
  Ergonomics 2014 Nov; 57(11):1739-1749
• Contact Point Address:
  Kurt E. Beschorner, Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
• Email:
  beschorn@pitt.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20120901
• Source Full Name:
  Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20150831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e8b4e614bea42b40561a0cc8e5d2a7bfbd18c7938fba94db00b8c7e90640c1ee53f5da0d8def76013cd625be745322a46406378881b9faf0b05c2542e617c204
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200483/cdc_200483_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 789.06 KB ]