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Guide to Working Alone at Height Working alone is normal for service techs, inspectors and small contractors. It is also the situation where a fall is most likely to become fatal, because there is nobody to notice that someone did not come down, nobody to call for help, and nobody to stop a setup that obviously looks wrong. The work is not the problem; the planning is. What Actually Changes When You Are Alone The equipment does not care how many people are on site. What changes is everything ar …

Guide to Buying a Used Ladder A used fiberglass extension ladder at a third of new price looks like a bargain until you spot the crack running up one rail. The market is full of ladders that were retired from commercial service for good reason, alongside plenty that are genuinely fine. Knowing the difference takes about five minutes and a flashlight. The Three Questions That Settle It Ask what the ladder was used for, how long it was in service, and whether it was ever involved in a fall. A lad …

Guide to Setting Up a Ladder on Stairs A stairwell is the one place on a job where every ladder rule gets harder at once. The floor is sloped, the landing is small, the headroom changes as you climb, and the surface you set the feet on is usually finished. Crews get away with bad setups on stairs for years and then have one incident that makes the whole company change how it works. The Two Places a Ladder Goes on Stairs Either the feet are on a landing at the bottom and the ladder leans against …

Working Around Overhead Power Lines with Ladders Every year workers are killed by coming into contact with overhead lines they believed were far enough away. The distance looks generous from the ground, the line is higher than it looks, and once a long aluminum ladder starts moving in the wrong direction it is already too late. This is the hazard where a single moment of setup care matters more than everything else on the job. Minimum Approach Distances OSHA sets minimum approach distances for …

Guide to Working at Height in Texas Heat A Texas summer adds a hazard to height work that most safety literature written for mild climates never addresses. A worker standing on a ladder or a scaffold platform in direct sun in August is doing physical work in conditions that raise heart rate, reduce grip strength and slow reaction time, and every one of those changes the margin on a piece of equipment that assumes a fully capable operator. Heat on a roof or a lift is not a wellness issue. It is …