Ladders are ever-present tools for a variety of jobs and projects, making them extremely common in construction, contracting, and building trades. Whether you own a construction company, manage and supervise a crew, or are a sole proprietor, safety should be important to you. It’s a matter of keeping your employees and/or yourself productive and free from harm.

Because of the ubiquity of ladders, it can be easy to assume you already know everything there is to know about using them safely and properly. However, wise contractors understand that it’s dangerous to be lulled into a false sense of security about the most common tools.

The American Ladder Institute (ALI), the ANSI-approved developer of ladder safety standards, offers free, comprehensive training at its Ladder Safety Training site, https://www.laddersafetytraining.org/. The site makes safety training easy all year long, with an organized curriculum, video, and resource libraries. The site and its related training are completely free. 

Training courses are designed to seamlessly complement and integrate with an organization’s existing training program. Managers can choose as much or as little as they require; use the entire program wholesale or select a la carte to bolster gaps in their own training.

After signing up, trainers and training managers can develop a custom dashboard, called a Trainer’s Toolbox, in which they select training and testing, assign them to trainees, and monitor trainee performance and progress on the assignments. These dashboards can track everything from a handful of trainees for smaller organizations all the way up to hundreds for larger enterprises.

Every March, ALI brings you Ladder Safety Month to focus on ladder safety topics. Although you might have missed this past March’s special programming, you can still access it online. This year’s Ladder Safety Month topics were: Training and Awareness (Week One); Inspection and Maintenance (Week Two); Stabilization, Setup, and Accessories (Week Three); and Safe Climbing and Positioning (Week Four).

There was a special online webinar each week, hosted by industry giants Werner Co. and Louisville Ladder. On-demand recordings for each can be found at 

https://www.laddersafetymonth.com/participate/scheduled-events/. Topics include:

·         Training & Awareness

·         Ladder Inspection, Maintenance, and Proper Use

·         Stabilization, Setup, and Accessories

·         Ladder Inspection, Maintenance, and Proper Use (Spanish)

Helping to motivate safety and the success of Ladder Safety Month are its sponsors. This year’s Middle Rung sponsors were: International Masonry Institute, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Werner Co., and Louisville Ladder. The First Rung sponsors were Dorsey & Whitney LLP and the National Association of Home Builders.

American Ladder Institute | https://www.americanladderinstitute.org/