Ow ! Bloody OW !!!

Aren't ladders great when used badly?

I was drilling a hole for an extractor recently and was near the top of my stepladder. I reckoned i'd be more comfortable about a inch or so to the left, getting down off the ladder seemed like overkill so I decided to 'hop' it.

The ladder snapped and I hit the deck with my shins intertwined with the rungs. How I didn't break anything is beyond me.

You should have said something like it was a spider, but I killed it in the end.

My current problem is distance, or should I say the misjudging of it. My poor forehead and nose manages to hit edges of doors with regularity. Brian

One of the rules I remember from BT safety training is 'One out for four high' plus in the same way as you must always secure the ladder to the pole. If possible I tie a ladder when using it outside. It only takes a minutes or two and the consequences are well worth the trouble. I have a cousin who had his life wrecked in a moment when a ladder slipped away !

Andy C

Gravity is a bitch ;-)

As a jointer for 35 years I didn't mind climbing the highest poles we have, because I knew that I was strapped on with my safety belt and I wasn't going anywhere. However, if I have to lean a ladder against a wall, I have a desperate fear of it falling sideways. So much so, that my first job is often to drill a hole to take an eye bolt, which I then tie my ladder to!

I just walk into things (door frames, people) on my left.

I dread to imagine the problems without it though!

On Mon, 20 Aug 2012, "Andy Cap" writ:

Remember, nobody ever died from falling! It's the sudden stop which causes the damage.

At least three people have died from the fall. They suffered heart attacks while bungee jumping.

Colin Bignell

And remember aly loft ladders are not designed to be freestanding. Too light, and the feet have no proper grips. It's tempting to use them to install hatches and/or ladders etc but, unless you lash them firmly at the top, you really do need a second ladder. Says he who was supposed to be supervising at the time :-(

Well you would not need bathroom scales.

Ladders scare the hell out of me, so I always use a Ladder Mat

Also, once the feet have fallen off the bottom of the ladder is sharp... as I discover when it hit me :-(

Caused much amusement in casualty. Apparantly they are used to ladder injurys, but mine was unusual :)

Also, when the nurse says "this might sting a bit, I'll just use superglue to save stitching" she is understating things!

Wife was happy in the end - she got a new landing carpet. Never realised so much blood could come from a nose :-)

In the same hospital ward as me a couple of years ago was a chap who had leaned to one side while up a ladder. He had his own cleaning company and should have known better. Damaged shoulder, smashed elbow and a bloody great hole in his ankle. By the time he left there he'd not been able to walk for seven weeks and was about to go to a specialist in London for further treatment.

I was painting my gable end and got to just below the top of the chimney and couldn't quite reach the top brick. So, of course, I bounced up from the top step to dap the paint on. Worked perfectly until I saw the wall vanishing upwards as the ladder wooshed out from underneath me. Luckily, all I had was gashed palms as I'd tried to hold onto the brickwork as I plummeted onto the ground into a pool of paint.

JGH

Yep. I am forever meaning to either buy or make a set of ladder stabilisers, as I don't fancy a fall, which becomes increasingly likely with age.

Contary to popular belief in London, not everyone has a pole working for them, although most have a few ;-) I'm not sure tying as ladder to him is much help.