Ladder Injuries

[mountainsoft]

I spent most of the day Sunday up on my 12 foot step ladder cleaning moss and fir needles off our garage roof with a rake. I've always been comfortable working on ladders and didn't give it much thought.

Later that same day we got a message that my brother-in-law was in the hospital with six broken ribs after falling from a ladder while trimming limbs. He's been in the hospital three days now and is supposed to go home today. He's 62, just a couple years older than me, though he is a bit more of a risk taker than I am. From what I gather the foot of his ladder sunk into a mole tunnel while he was up on the ladder. He only fell four feet but landed directly on his right side.

Several months ago another brother-in-law's fell off a ladder while installing a light on the outside of their house. He messed up his knee pretty bad and has been out of work for a while now. At least he's walking.

Anyway, I don't see myself avoiding ladders for the near future, but I'll be sure to be a lot more careful and attentive when using them.

 

[Teacher Terry]

In august I had my balcony enclosed with glass and decided to paint it myself because my bids were 500 to paint 55 square feet. My friend used a ladder to tape off the high areas over the windows. It has a vaulted ceiling so high at one side. I just planned to use a long pole to paint.

Of course once I start I realize I will have to get on top of the ladder to paint the trim. I have always been a bit clumsy and am 69. I went very slow and careful and was terrified. I painted it thick so I wouldn’t have to do it twice. I will never do it again.

 

[Mark1]

At Megacorp when I left in 2016, it was policy if working at heights (more than 6 feet) 100% tie-off was required. Ignoring this requirement was one of the few things that could get you fired. Even with this policy in place, the last fatality in the plant prior to my leaving was due to a fall from height.

 

[aja8888]

Ladders are a no - no once you get over 50 or so, unless you like medical care (or worse).

 

[statsman]

After the first of the year, I was pulling into the driveway when I noticed our next door neighbor's daughter, a senior in high school, was up on a 6-foot ladder to remove some Christmas lights from their two smallish trees. Her younger sister (~14) was helping.

Just as I glanced over to offer a pole I rigged up to use for such decorations in a tree or up high, she fell off the ladder. It didn't look like a bad spill, but I later ran into her mom who was driving the daughter to an appointment to have an MRI performed. At a minimum, she had strained ligaments in her knee. They were checking to see if she had any ACL and/or MCL tears (confirmed ACL tear - surgery in March).

 

[mathjak107]

i only know my step ladder , i never knew my real ladder ….

 

[jollystomper]

My rule: anything that requires me to get on anything more than a step ladder and more than 3 feet off the ground, I hire someone else to do, or buy some tool will a looong pole that allows me to perform the task .

Last year I did volunteer duty that included painting a room with very high ceilings, I told the folks I was happy to paint anything as long as my feet did not leave the ground. They got a couple of fearless 20-something year olds to go up the ladders to deal with anything else .

 

[LateToFIRE]

I had a ladder collapse right from under me - it was at least a 7 footer. I was scrapping and painting a skylight in a room with high ceilings, so was really reaching overhead and was standing just above the safety line. I wasn't so much worried about falling off the ladder as I had plenty to hold onto to. What I didn't factor in was the whole thing crumpling under me like an accordion, and a BAM! down I went. Elbow hit the wood floor so hard, I punched a hole in the floor. Fortunately, it was a 100 year old soft pine floor - anything harder and I would have shattered elbow and hip. I was stupid and lucky - knowing those two words rarely appear in the same sentence, I have since, greatly respected ladders and heights, leaving such matters to professionals.

 

[euro]

Yes, ladder climbing was one of the first things to give me pause in my 50-ies. I'll still do some of it but definitely more selective these days.

 

[skyking1]

i only know my step ladder , i never knew my real ladder ….

well played
I have certainly thought about it and try to set things up properly. Here is an example of not properly where I helped a friend on his cabin foundation.

No ladder extending up past the landing surface.

Did not install safety rail.

I am doing the same job at our new house, and you can bet there will be safety rail and a properly tied off extension ladder to get up there.

 

[Jerry1]

I’m thankful that I can reach my gutters to attach Christmas lights by only going up two steps on a four foot step ladder I have. I don’t do heights. I had a guy come and check out my roof. He invited me up to see what he was recommending get fixed. I just said I trust him. He wanted around $300 to fix some flashing and all the rubber boots around the vent pipes and the furnace outlet pipe. I don’t know what number could have got me on that roof, but for $300 I wasn’t even thinking about it. I could see the replaced boots from the ground.

 

[Ronstar]

I splurged for leaf guard gutters a few years ago, after falling off the roof into a bush. Balance isn’t what it used to be. Dr told to stay off ladders.

I need to find a painter to stain my soffit and fascia.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Yeah, I've definitely gotten more tepid about getting up on a ladder as I've gotten older. I'm still fine getting up to clean the gutters on the first level and hang some xmas lights but I definitely don't love going up to the second level gutters, let alone the roof.
Been thinking about getting some kind of leaf guard type solution.

 

[skyking1]

we did 80% of the gutters here the other day. Wife helps by dumping the bucket for me in a wheelbarrow. I need to pressure wash the roof this summer and do the gutters again, and possibly one more time at this place. We have the tall tree problem here. We get bombed by all sorts of stuff including decent sized limbs.

 

[Aerides]

Anyway, I don't see myself avoiding ladders for the near future, but I'll be sure to be a lot more careful and attentive when using them.

I'd take your relatives' experiences as the warning - and I'm sure they thought they were careful and attentive.

The value/risk equation is too great for me or DH. I didn't retire early only to fall off a ladder and wreck myself. Sure, everything in life has risks, but ladders seem to have more of them that they are worth.

Step ladder, to reach the first story trim for lights. Anything higher? Hire someone.

 

[OldShooter]

I lost a lifelong friend to a ladder accident. He was trimming shrubs from an old step ladder sitting on his driveway, a (wooden) rung broke and he ended up flat on his face on the concrete. Next thing he knew he was inside, not knowing how he got there, deep scrapes on his knees and elbows. Not sure if the concussion or major infection got him but he's gone.

 

[folivier]

I've never liked working off a ladder. I have a 6' portable rolling scaffold I use whenever I need to. Just have to remember not to step off the edge.
Back in my college days I was working one summer on a dredge. Me and another guy were painting the spuds. It was my turn on the 20' ladder while he (was supposed to) was holding the ladder. Not aware that he walked away the ladder slid down, I threw the open paint can and brush and hit the steel deck! Didn't injure myself but was pretty sore for a couple days. The supervisor chewed me out for throwing the paint can and getting paint on the deck. Told him if the "idiot" was holding the ladder like he was supposed to it wouldn't have happened. Yeah, OSHA wasn't around much back then.

 

[Dash man]

I was banned from ladders a few years ago. Never fell off a ladder, but have fallen while walking a couple of times from balance issues. We call someone else for any jobs requiring ladders, and pretty much anything else too, now that we’re getting older.

 

[TrvlBug]

DH fell off the ladder about 2 years ago at 74 clearing the 1st floor gutters. While he only climbed when I was there with him, he lost his balance and fell backward hitting his head on the driveway. Luckily we had redone the concrete driveway to asphalt otherwise, much more damage.

He's been on ladders since, however, I finally talked him out of climbing this year. We found out about a thinamaggigy you attach to your blower that can clear the gutters and bought one! Found out about it from a thread here and it works pretty good.

 

[athena53]

I've got really good balance and agility but I'm 71 and am wary of ladders. Since I live alone, I don't use the high ones unless someone else is around.

A couple of years ago I had a new garage door opener installed and paid extra to get one that could be controlled via a phone app (in addition to the usual push-buttons) because I like that stuff. I was VERY annoyed to find after the installer left that getting it connected to Wi-fi meant pushing buttons in the unit, which was now installed on the ceiling of the garage. I should have made them come back out.

So.... I waited till DS and DDIL were visiting and DS went up on the ladder and he and I got it working. My 4-year old grandson likes the phone control even more than he likes the backup camera in my car!

I discovered last week that it was no longer connected, probably because I'd replaced my router. I went on-line and the first step was powering down the unit and turning it on again. I would have had to climb up on the car to reach the plug or get pretty close to the top of the ladder since the outlet was in the ceiling. Fortunately I thought of the circuit breaker in the basement- that worked. I still needed to push a button on the unit- very relieved that I got it working again without incident.

 

[Koolau]

I even hate using our little 2 step utility ladder. But I do it so DW won't! The fact that I've lost a fair amount of weight the last year does make me feel a bit safer. I'm no longer even close to the weight limit of the ladder.

 

[Walt34]

Being north of 70 now I don't do ladders anymore either, except for a two-step ladder for light bulbs.

A tip a firefighter gave me is to keep your belt, all of it, between the rails. That has kept me from any ladder accidents so far.

 

[statsman]

On a related subject, when we had our house built in 2019, the builder's models usually located the HVAC in the attic above the garage. Access to that area for filter changes required a drop-down ladder. Normal is a 10' high ceiling in the garage. That was bad enough.

Our house was built on a lot that sloped down toward the front of the property. Based on that, the drop in the garage was increased by 3'. Floor to ceiling in our garage is 13', and because of the height, they would be replacing the standard 10' wooden drop-down ladder with a 13' metal ladder.

Of course, I am going through cold sweats thinking about this the week after we signed the papers and put down a deposit for the build. I was ready to eat the deposit, but DW said NO. Somehow, I stumbled upon our model that was used on a house for sale that had a second floor added on with a game room and a media room, adding 450 sq ft.

There was no real need for this additional space, but then I noticed the media room had a door that faced in the direction of the garage. We went to look at the house for sale and determined that door led to the attic space over the garage, giving access to the HVAC. Because of that, there was no drop-down ladder needed.

We immediately contacted the builder, requested a change in plans ($500 fee), plus the increase cost to the house and a couple weeks delay in the build schedule. To this day, I am so grateful we found out about the alternate access from the media room.

BTW, the media room has become our indoor storage area. Holiday decorations, music CDs and movies, boxes for our audio and video equipment, ...

 

[CardsFan]

I lost a lifelong friend to a ladder accident. He was trimming shrubs from an old step ladder sitting on his driveway, a (wooden) rung broke and he ended up flat on his face on the concrete. Next thing he knew he was inside, not knowing how he got there, deep scrapes on his knees and elbows. Not sure if the concussion or major infection got him but he's gone.

Similar story here. He was at the family farm, alone, trimming branches over his trailer. No one knows exactly what happened, but his BIL found him dead on the ground, with a broken neck, a few hours later when he arrived. He was still in his 50's, I think.

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

My sister who is 17 years my elder lives in another state and we were talking on the speaker phone with her husband also. It was weird. She asked me what I do on my own around the house? So, one thing I said was that I do plenty of yard work. But, the one thing I do not do is get on a ladder with a chain saw. That is a running joke with us now (she checks to see if I am on a ladder with a chain saw).

I got rid of my original ladders and replaced them all with very heavy duty versions (small, medium and large). I'm 61 and still getting on ladders. But, I make sure I am well rested and not fatigued in any way. I stay aware of my movement, etc. I had to get on a high ladder in the garage to get the garage door battery out of the garage door opener. I ordered the battery and need to reinstall the new one (it's just sitting there until I feel like it). I have light bulbs to change upstairs and the medium ladder was upstairs for over a year (it's now next to my front door because I needed it for my smoke alarms). So, apparently I tend to wait for the prioritization to be right also. I am a serial procrastinator.

My personal trainer had fallen off a ladder and had 20 screws in his arm. He also was in the Navy and got shot through the leg with a rocket. That's why he was my personal trainer as I needed someone to understand the level of pain I was dealing with.