Ladder falls are among the most common serious injuries in construction and home repair, and they do not usually happen during the careful setup at eight in the morning. They happen at four in the afternoon, on the one last trip up, when moving the ladder felt like more effort than leaning.

The point of a habit is that it survives fatigue. Rules you think about get skipped when you are tired. Rules you perform automatically do not.

Setting up an extension ladder

Angle. The base goes out roughly one foot for every four feet of working height. The quick check: stand with your toes touching the feet of the ladder and extend your arms straight forward. Your palms should land on a rung at about shoulder height. Too steep and it can tip backward; too shallow and the base can slide out.

Extension above the landing. At least three feet of ladder above the surface you are stepping onto, so there is something solid to hold while you transition. That transition is where a large share of falls occur.

Footing. Level, firm ground. Not a piece of plywood on soft dirt, not a board propped under one rail on a slope. Use the leg levelers the ladder came with, or dig the high side down. Never stack blocks under a ladder foot.

Securing. Tie off the top when you can. Have someone foot the ladder when you cannot, or use a stabilizer. An unsecured ladder against a gutter is a common failure.

Clearance. Look up before you set it. Contact with an overhead power line is fatal, and an aluminum ladder makes it more likely. Keep well clear, and use a fiberglass ladder for any work near electrical.

Stepladders

Fully open, spreaders locked, all four feet on a firm level surface. Not leaning against a wall. Not on top of anything. Not with the top cap or the step below it used as a standing surface.

If you find yourself on the second step from the top reaching up, get a taller ladder.

While you are on it

Three points of contact. Two hands and a foot, or two feet and a hand, at all times while climbing. That means tools go up in a bag, on a belt, or hoisted, not in your hand.

Face the ladder. Climbing up and down, and while working.

Belt buckle inside the rails. This is the rule that catches overreaching. If your belt buckle passes outside the rail, you are past the point where the ladder stays stable. Climb down and move it.

One person at a time unless the ladder is specifically rated otherwise.

Watch the load rating. The rating covers you plus tools plus materials. A person with a full belt and a bundle of shingles adds up faster than people expect.

The tired-hours habits

These are the ones that matter, because they are the ones that get skipped.

  • Move the ladder. Every time. It takes fifteen seconds and it is the single most protective habit on this list.
  • Clean your boots before climbing. Mud, sawdust, and ice on rungs are a common cause.
  • Do not carry anything in your hands going up or down.
  • Set a hard stop on the day for ladder work. Whatever needs doing at the very end of a long day can be the first thing tomorrow.
  • Do not use a ladder in high wind, and get off when weather turns.

Inspection

Before use, look at the rails for cracks or bends, the rungs for looseness, the feet for missing or worn pads, the spreaders and locks on a stepladder, and the rope and pulley on an extension ladder.

Take damaged ladders out of service. Tag them or cut them up so nobody grabs them. A bent rail is not something to work around.

When a ladder is the wrong tool

Sometimes the answer is scaffolding, a lift, or a different approach entirely. Extended overhead work, heavy material handling at height, and anything requiring both hands and a lot of force are all situations where a ladder is a compromise.

Renting the right access equipment for a day costs less than most people assume, and considerably less than a fall.