From the Ladder Safety App released by NIOSH in June 2013

A free smartphone app from NIOSH uses a multimodal indicator to help users adjust straight and extension ladders to the correct angle – which, in case you don’t know already, is 75.5 degrees (also known as the 4:1 ratio, meaning the base of the ladder should be placed one foot out from the wall for every four feet up).

“If the ladder is set too steeply, it is more likely to fall back or slide away during use, and if it is set too shallow then the bottom can slide out,” reads this information from NIOSH about their Ladder Safety app for mobile devices. “Misjudging the ladder angle is a significant risk factor for a fall.”

The app warns its users – using visual and audible signals – if the angle needs to be adjusted. It looks like it would be helpful at work, home or any where else you need to use a straight or extension ladder.

Other resources

The Ladder Challenge is an interactive safety game from WorkSafeBC that lets you learn by doing. The game is set on a residential construction site, where you can put your ladder safety skills to the test, with help from the virtual foreman.

While most falls from ladders happen in construction, others occur in the service industry, manufacturing, transportation/warehousing, and elsewhere.

In May 2011, three BC workers died from ladder-related falls. In my post Three ladder deaths in one week I shared information from WorkSafeBC that stated 13 people had died and there were 4,214 serious injury claims due to falls from ladders between 2001 and 2010. (A “serious injury” is one in which a worker loses more than 28 days of wages due to an injury.)

ACTSafe even posted a version of Snakes and Ladders on its ladder safety page.