Every year more than 350 people die in ladder-related accidents, and thousands suffer disabling injuries. The American Ladder Institute (ALI), a not-for-profit association dedicated to promoting safe ladder use, announces March as the annual Ladder Safety Month to raise awareness of ladder safety in the home and in the workforce and to decrease the number of ladder-related injuries and fatalities.
National Ladder Safety Month is the only movement dedicated exclusively to the promotion of ladder safety. During March 2018, National Ladder Safety Month will bring heightened awareness to the importance of the safe use of ladders through resources, training, and a national dialogue. To get involved, visit www.laddersafetymonth.com.
During Ladder Safety Month, the ALI and its members will promote ladder safety with the following goals in mind:
- Increase the number of completed safety trainings on www.laddersafetytraining.org
- Increase the frequency that ladder safety training modules are viewed on www.laddersafetytraining.org
- Lower the rankings of ladder-related safety citations on OSHA’s yearly Top 10 Citations list
- Decrease incidence of OSHA-reported ladder-related fatalities
- Increase the number of on-site ladder trainings
- Increase the number of companies that inspect and properly dispose of old, damaged, or obsolete ladders
The ALI will provide weekly email blasts covering topics like Ladder Safety at Home, Ladder Inspections, Prevention through Design, and the Leading Causes of Ladder Accidents and How to Avoid Them. They will also provide contact information to Ladder Safety professionals that will provide free, on-site ladder safety training for your company or association.
Providing better ladder safety training is only part of the solution to reducing the number of ladder-related accidents and deaths. The other is encouraging innovation in an industry and product that hasn’t changed much in hundreds of years. By designing safer products, we can prevent accidents from happening and get everyone home at the end of the day. Having safer products doesn’t help protect anyone from a severe injury if they don’t know safer products exist. Part of ladder safety training is choosing the right ladder for the job and being informed of new equipment.
If you would like to get your company involved in Ladder Safety Month, here are just a few ideas:
- Promote National Ladder Safety Month with weekly ladder safety-centered blog posts to bring awareness.
- Send weekly internal company memo/eblasts on ladder safety to employees.
- Include National Ladder Safety Month in employee/customer newsletter.
- Invite a ladder safety expert to conduct a live ladder safety training to every person in your company.
- Hold a contest within your company for the best ideas to promote ladder safety across the entire organization.
- Issue a press release on how your company is promoting Ladder Safety Month and what changes you will make to keep your people safe while using ladders.
- Hold your own ladder safety “stand-down” during the first week of Ladder Safety Month.
- Conduct ladder safety inspections on all your ladders during National Ladder Safety Month. You can use the Ladder Inspection Checklist available on the ALI website or use the NIOSH ladder safety app inspection tool. Remove from service and properly destroy any ladders that do not pass inspection.
- Share ALI and other ladder safety content daily on your social media outlets.
- Offer incentives to all in your organization who complete online ladder safety training at www.laddersafetytraining.org during the month of March.
The ALI believes every ladder accident is preventable, but without better training and continuous innovation in safety planning and product design, we will continue to see far too many fatalities.
For More Information:
visit www.laddersafetymonth.com or www.laddersafetytraining.org.
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Modern Contractor Solutions, March 2018
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