By Celeste McLaughlin, Ergonomics Manager
Unless you brought home a tiny Christmas tree or are really tall, there is a good chance you will need to climb up to hang ornaments or put up Christmas lights. Every year during the holidays there are an increased amount of injuries from falling. Let’s review some ladder safety tips so your jolly doesn’t turn into folly.
1. Use a stepladder if you cannot reach high enough. The chair will thank you for not standing on it.
2. Inspect the stepladder for any structural damage.
3. Place the ladder on a surface which is stable and not slippery. Avoid the tree skirt for this reason.
4. Make sure the ladder spreaders are locked. You don’t want the ladder to fold up on you when you are on it. That would be hilarious in a movie, but not so much in real life.
5. Keep a 3 point contact when climbing the ladder. This means two hands and a foot or two feet and a hand.
6. Stay near the middle of the ladder and face it when climbing.
7. Avoid standing on the top step or cap of the stepladder. I’m sure you wouldn’t do this, but it must be said just in case you drank spiked eggnog and decided to give it a go.
We wish you safe and happy holidays and a wonderful new year!
