(HealthDayNews) -- Lots of people use ladders to paint the house, wash windows, or clean the gutters.
But we also tend to use them improperly. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says 511,000 people seek medical treatment each year because they failed to use ladders safely. And more than 300 people a year die from ladder-related injuries.
The American Ladder Institute offers these safety guidelines:
- Use a ladder of proper length to reach the working height you need.
- Before you use a single, extension or stepladder outside, make sure it will not hit electrical wires or tree limbs when extended.
- Place the feet of the ladder on firm, even ground.
- The bottom of the ladder should be about one foot away from the wall for every four feet that the ladder rises.
- The upper and lower sections of an extension ladder should overlap to provide stability.
- Face the ladder while climbing and stay in the center of the rails. Do not lean over the side of the ladder. Your belt buckle should not be further than the side rail.
- On single or extension ladders, never stand above the third rung from the top and never climb above the point where the ladder touches the wall or vertical support.
