True. @jonnyald has a great spike setup on his ladders.
when someone foots my ladder its got to be done right,that is their toes on the ground touching the ladder and hands on the stiles. no messing around,moving out the way to let passersby thru is a real no-no . in fact its the one thing iv threatened instant dismissal over,to make sure my employees know the importance of it. A few years ago an employee didnt seem to get the point and moved aside from footing the ladderto let an elderly gent thru -once i came down i tore into them so much they were crying -but i didnt let up. once back inside the van i said you do what i tell you or youre finished. Answer me, yes or no,
i do also have ladder spikes fitted permanently to the ladders ,these are invaluable, fantastic grip on all manner of outdoor surfaces . i got into spikes after having a full drop ladder fall back in the days when i was solo and wasnt aware of the risks of rubber outdoors
, spikes are mostly popular here with the oldtimer window cleaners .
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My Werners have swivel feet with spike built in.
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One thing I am surprised about is no one has put up a how to guide to foot a ladder as many people are footing ladders incorrectly as many guys have been saying.
The correct way to foot a ladder is to stand at the base of the ladder with your feet at 45 degree angle with the arches of your foot hard pressed into the foot of the ladder so there so no way the ladder can move and with both hands on either side of the ladder( not rungs) holding firm to prevent side to side movementâŚ
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iv long thought there could/should be a training school somewhere for ladder use. at the school theres practical demonstrations on how to survive a fall [ iv read you should ride ladder down,dunno if thats possible} the demo could be done over a ball pit.
one thing i do know is that the 4>1 safety rule [correct ladder angle ] is rarely adhered to. 4 metres up the wall is 1 metre out from wall at base . 4 metres up is approx 1st floor level but in 99% of cases folk put the ladder 1.5-1.8 out at base
That article is more geared toward homeowners than professionals.
professional ladder uses if correctly footing the ladder and ladder is positioned correctly. Then it will prevent many of the things the article says it wont.
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so i have searched many times for how to correctly âfootâ a ladder and have never found anything.
the method they describe is one way i foot but regardless of who the article is aimed at the result is the same.
the other way i foot is they way you describe but where does your original info come from? all we are doing either way is adding a bit of weight to the base to prevent foot of ladder or trying to hold up a long lever with weight on the end.
i had a ladder start to go sideways while i was footing and my helper was up doing eaves with the 28 fully extended, it moved about 6 inches. not really sure if my effort is what stopped it or it just stopped on itâs own.
If you have an equal amount of pressure weighing down on the feet as against your ladder, it should not slip.
If you are on uneven ground so that one side of the ladder leans you have a very good chance of falling.
You can tie off the foot of the ladder to a stationary object so the feet do not slide out on concrete or similar surface.
Using a standoff, or rubber mitts on the top ends of the ladder will control slippage from side to side, but your best bet to add to that is to set your ladder level, or use one of the forms of ladder levelers sold.
Having a heads up person safely foot the ladder for you is smart stuff.
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[quote=âjonnyald, post:31, topic:39195, full:trueâ] [ iv read you should ride ladder down,dunno if thats possible}
[/quote]
Thatâs what I DIDâŚ
Saved my life.
I thought about gravity, friction, positioning, gripâŚ
Because I thought about âwhat ifâ prior.
We tend to think so much about avoidance/preventive.
But, what do you do when worst case, happens?
I pulled back my fingers from wrapping the rails, so they wouldnât get crushed in a flat hit.
To a point of a pushing away/bracing position.
I stepped my left leg up a rung, to not get slammed off balance face first (brace for impact)
My thought at the time was "so this is how it happens."
That was my memory of what was going on.
For some reason, later, my memory focused on the impact.
Not sure when or why it switched, but as I type this, I think more about what was going thru my mind, as it happened, againâŚ
So I guess Iâve switched BACK.
I was doing an entrance way, with stairs on the inside.
Apparently, a lady was taking those stairs and screamed bloody murder, when I dropped.
Needless to say, I lost that jobâŚ
