Ladder Safety

Why it matters

Ladders feel routine, and that is exactly why they hurt people. Most ladder falls on Australian sites happen below three metres, doing a quick job nobody thought needed a second thought. A ladder is access, not a work platform: if the job takes both hands or more than a couple of minutes, a ladder is probably the wrong tool.

Hazards

• ⚠ Setting the ladder on soft, uneven, or wet ground
• ⚠ Overreaching sideways instead of moving the ladder
• ⚠ Climbing with tools in your hands instead of a tool belt or hoist
• ⚠ Using a damaged ladder with bent rails, split stiles, or missing feet
• ⚠ Wrong angle: base too close or too far from the wall
• ⚠ Metal or wet ladders near live electrical services

Controls and safe practices

• ✓ Inspect before every use: stiles, rungs, feet, spreaders. Tag out and remove damaged ladders.
• ✓ Set the base one out for every four up, on firm level ground, and secure or foot the ladder.
• ✓ Keep three points of contact and your belt buckle between the stiles: no overreaching.
• ✓ For work above two metres, a ladder is high risk work under reg 78 and reg 79: plan a platform, EWP, or scaffold instead where you can.
• ✓ Use a fibreglass ladder near any electrical work, never aluminium.
• ✓ Face the ladder going up and down, and never carry loads in your hands.

Crew discussion questions

1. Which jobs on this site are we doing off a ladder that really need a platform?
2. Where is the ground soft or sloping, and how do we set up safely there?
3. Who checks the site ladders, and where do damaged ones go?
4. Are there live services near where we ladder up?

Applicable WHS citations

reg 78, reg 79, AS/NZS 1892

More toolbox talks

• Working at Heights
• Working On or Near Live Electrical
• Temporary Power and Leads on Site
• Trenching and Excavation
• Confined Spaces
• Respirable Crystalline Silica

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