# ladder safety



## vos

dose any one now when you ned to tie off when using a ladder? and how it should be done?


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## JT Wood

........


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## JustaFramer

If you tie your ladder down properly (assuming it's a extention ladder) then no there shouldn't a time to tie off.


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## MAD Renovations

vos said:


> dose any one now when you ned to tie off when using a ladder? and how it should be done?


 
WTF................


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## TBFGhost

....but there was a french guy in here the other day that said your not allowed to work off a ladder in france...you have to work off scaffold even if your only 2 feet in the air...

figures...france...:shifty:


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## neolitic

TBFGhost said:


> ....but there was a french guy in here the other day that said your not allowed to work off a ladder in france...you have to work off scaffold even if your only 2 feet in the air...
> 
> figures...france...:shifty:


It was a Brit
*in* France
complaining the the French
aren't as *strict* as the Brits.
I think it was HenryV....


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## vos

bump


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## Kgmz

Fall protection is not required by OSHA with portable ladders.


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## SLSTech

http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3124.pdf


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## KennMacMoragh

Around here it's when you are 25 feet or higher, you have to tie yourself off to the ladder, it's got to be done with a safety harness and lanyard. But check your state regulations, don't know if New York has it's own or if they go by OSHA.


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## CSINEV

OSHA requires you to be tied off any time you are working over 6 feet up. You must have three points of contact with a ladder at all times. So if you are working on a extension ladder or A-frame ladder over 6 feet and both your hands are off the ladder you would need to be tied off to an anchorage point above you head with a drop load pull out greater then 5,000 lbs. This would need to be done with a full body harness and shock absorbing lanyard. This is all per OSHA national standards. And must states have adopted these standards. If you take an OSHA 10 or 30 class it will help you greatly in questions of keeping your guys safe.:thumbup:


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## Kgmz

There is nothing in the OSHA rules that say anything about fall protection for a portable ladder. They do say something about it for fixed ladders.

Look at 29 CFR 1926 subpart X 1050 to 1060.
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owa..._type=STANDARDS&p_toc_level=1&p_keyvalue=1926

Next read the OSHA interpretations.

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=24559

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=23870

Read this article from Enviromental Safety and Health Today. May 1st, 2010.
http://ehstoday.com/construction/news/clearing-confusion-surrounding-fall-protection-0510/

As for working over 6 feet where you need both of your hands, you are supposed to be on a lift, scaffold, etc.

And you are supposed to be tied off, or some other form of protection if you are over 6 feet in construction, 4 feet in industrial. But not on a ladder.



As for Washington States 25 foot rule. This is something I always forget to talk to them about whenever I am down in Olympia or at one of their contractor training days.

It is generally always considered a bad idea to tie yourself off to the ladder you are standing on, by OSHA and various safety studies. And as far as I know Washington state is the only state with this rule. In Oregon if they see you tieing off to a ladder you are in big trouble. Why, it doesn't meet the load rating, it is not fixed, etc. etc.


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## Tom Struble

well it may help to pull the ladder down on you and crush your skull:thumbsup:


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## Kgmz

tomstruble said:


> well it may help to pull the ladder down on you and crush your skull:thumbsup:


My thought also.


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## CSINEV

Per OSHA any time you are working over 6 feet up you must be tied off it doesn't matter how you are 6 feet up. You must have three points of contact on any ladder, any time that is breached you must be tied off. I was a superintendent at city center in Las Vegas pushing 200+ men on a 400 million dollar project where fall protection was of paramount importance because of all the deaths and I had OSHA on my site daily. Trust me when I say this, if you are working on anything short of a scissor lift or scaffold over 6 feet you had better be tied off if you don't have three points of contact with the ladder. Better to be safe then dead, right? You need to understand how OSHA inspectors think and they look at all regulations not just one. They combine them and will say yes there are no fall protection rules for ladders beyond constant three points of contact but, you are over 6 feet so you must be tied off if you are working hands free from the ladder. A willful from the OSHA is 70K so be careful because they expect you to know the laws. Again Better to be safe and alive then dead.


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## Kgmz

Did you read the OSHA interpretations I listed?

excerpt from one of them.

*Portable ladders: fall protection is not required for employees climbing or working on portable ladders.
*Neither the ladder standard (29 CFR 1926, subpart X) nor the fall protection standard (29 CFR 1926, subpart M) requires fall protection for workers while working on portable ladders.

You note that a number of general contractors in Georgia "are attempting to require personal fall arrest systems for their subcontractors working on ladders 6 feet or higher." Although the OSHA standards do not require fall protection for workers on fixed ladders below 24 feet or on portable ladders, we encourage employers to provide additional protection.



Now I am all for safety and never want to see someone hurt. Which is why we own all kinds of equipment including scissor lifts and man lifts. But some things can only be done on a ladder, and it is usually where there is nothing to tie off to. If it can be done on equipment then we always use the equipment, usually easier and faster.


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## dougger222

I think it's 26ft or higher for fall protection. We are on a large commercial job right now and although we are not dealing directly with OSHA we are dealing with the safety inspectors on a very wealthy native american casino.

We are on a 4/12 40ft up on both sides. 2x6's with roof jacks on all eaves tied off with full harness at all times. Ladders is sand bagged and tied off. We set up a double scaffold system with cage on top (8 sections) and put a tarp inside the other scaffolding and tossed 150 squares down it.


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## SubwayGuy

With a properly tied down portable ladder, you NEVER need to tie yourself off to it.

As I understand it, you only need to tie the ladder off if you are using it to climb onto a higher surface. If that's what you're doing, the side rails of the ladder should extend 3 feet or more above the surface you are climbing onto. Most extension ladders can be purchased with tie off rope, but if not just use something strong like fiberglass rope and deadknot it to one of the upper rungs on the ladder.

If that's what you're doing, of course once you're off the ladder, you'll need to set up a personal fall protection system, but not while you're on the ladder as you falling while tied to the ladder will pull the ladder down on top of you. As long as you maintain 3 points of contact and the ladder doesn't move on you (which it shouldn't if set up properly) you should be fine anyway.


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