Auto-Setting Ladder Inclination

Switalski, William G.; Barnett, Ralph L.

doi:10.1115/detc2003/sera-48689

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Several other methods have been proposed for setting up portable straight ladders at the proper angle. From 1977 to 1990, ANSI required ladders to be labelled with a tilted backwards ‘L’ such that the ladder was set up properly with the sides of the ‘L’ parallel to the wall and floor (Switalski and Barnett 2003 ). The backwards L method was evaluated by Young and Wogalter ( 2000 ), Knox and Van Bree ( 2010 ) and Campbell and Pagano ( 2014 ), resulting in angles of 71.8° ± 3.13°, 72.7° ± 2.7° and 71.7° ± 3.36°, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Straight ladder inclined angle in a field environment: the relationship among actual angle, method of set-up and knowledge

et al. 2016

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Ladder inclined angle is a critical factor that could lead to a slip at the base of portable straight ladders, a major cause of falls from heights. Despite several methods established to help workers achieve the recommended 75.5° angle for ladder set-up, it remains unclear if these methods are used in practice. This study explored ladder set-up behaviours in a field environment. Professional installers of a company in the cable and other pay TV industry were observed for ladder set-up at their worksites. The results showed that the actual angles of 265 ladder set-ups by 67 participants averaged 67.3° with a standard deviation of 3.22°. Although all the participants had training on recommended ladder set-up methods, only 3 out of 67 participants applied these methods in their daily work and even they failed to achieve the desired 75.5° angle. Therefore, ladder set-up remains problematic in real-world situations. Practitioner Summary: Professional installers of a cable company were observed for portable straight ladder set-up at their worksites. The ladder inclined angle averaged 67.3° with a standard deviation of 3.22°, while the recommended angle is 75.5°. Only a few participants used the methods that they learned during training in their daily work.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%