Ladder safety: what supervisors need to know

Why it matters

Ladders feel safe because they are familiar. That is the problem. People grab one for a two-minute job and skip every check.

Ladder falls are usually from low heights, but the injuries are serious. Head injuries, broken wrists and spinal damage are common. Workers fall when the ladder slips at the base, when they overreach, or when they miss a rung while carrying something.

Most of these falls are preventable with the right ladder, set up the right way.

Should you use a ladder at all?

Start with the job, not the ladder. Singapore law says no work at height where it can reasonably be done safely another way. If you can use an extension pole or lower the item, do that.

The Code of Practice for Working Safely at Heights treats a ladder as a short-duration tool. It suggests no more than 10 to 15 minutes of continuous work on a ladder. Use a step platform, tower scaffold or MEWP if the job is longer or heavier. The same applies if the work needs both hands or a strong push or pull.

Never put a ladder on a scaffold platform or near an open edge to gain height. If it tips, the worker goes over the edge.

Order of controls

• Eliminate. Work from the ground with long-handled tools, or bring the item down.
• Substitute. Use a podium step, tower scaffold or MEWP with guard-rails.
• Engineer. Tie the ladder at the top, fit stand-offs or levellers, and fit cages or lifelines on fixed ladders.
• Administer. Pre-use checks, a ladder register, tagging out damaged ladders, a second person footing the base.
• Personal protection. Slip-resistant footwear, a tool belt, and a harness on fixed ladders where the risk assessment calls for it.

Setting up a leaning ladder

Put the base on firm, level ground that can take the ladder, the worker and the load. Use a board to spread the load on soft ground. Move the base out one unit for every four units of height. That is roughly 75 degrees.

Secure the ladder so it cannot slip. Tie both stiles at the top to a solid point. If you cannot tie it yet, have someone stand at the foot and hold it while the first person climbs to tie it.

The ladder must rise at least 1 metre above the landing, or there must be a handhold at that height. Keep it away from doorways, walkways, vehicle routes and crane loads, or barricade around it.

Step ladders

Open a step ladder fully and lock both spreaders. Do not use it folded and leaning against a wall unless the maker designed it for that.

Never stand on the top step or top cap. Work a few steps down so you can keep a handhold. Face the work square on. Side loading, such as drilling sideways, can tip a step ladder over. If you cannot avoid it, tie the ladder back.

Do not use a step ladder to reach another level unless the maker says it is built for that, and it is secured.

Climbing and working

• Keep three points of contact: two hands and a foot, or two feet and a hand.
• Face the ladder going up and coming down.
• Carry tools in a belt or pouch. Haul heavier items up by line.
• Keep your body between the stiles and both feet on the same rung. Climb down and move the ladder rather than stretching.
• One person on a ladder at a time.
• Do not move a ladder with anyone or anything on it.
• Keep metal ladders away from live electrical equipment and overhead lines.

Checking the ladder

The user checks the ladder every time before use. Supervisors or a named person should also inspect site ladders on a routine schedule and keep a record.

Take the ladder out of service and tag it if you find any of these. Never use a homemade or patched-up ladder.

• Stiles bent, twisted, cracked, corroded or with cracked welds
• Rungs or steps missing, loose, worn or bent
• Feet missing or worn smooth
• Broken or loose tie rods, braces, spreaders or locks
• Oil, grease or mud on rungs

What the rules require (Singapore)

Regulation 18 of the Workplace Safety and Health (Work at Heights) Regulations 2013 covers ladders. The Code of Practice for Working Safely at Heights adds practical guidance.

• Every ladder must be of good construction, sound material and adequate strength, with no visible defects, and fit for the job.
• The ground under a portable ladder must be stable, level, firm and strong enough for the ladder, user and load.
• The ladder must be positioned so it stays stable in use.
• A leaning ladder must be fixed, lashed, or held at the foot by a person to stop it slipping.
• A ladder used for access or as a working place must rise, or have a handhold, at least 1 metre above the landing or the highest rung the feet reach.
• Fixed vertical ladders over 9 metres need intermediate landings with guard-rails, if practicable, at no more than 9-metre intervals.
• Fixed vertical ladders over 3 metres need a safety cage or other measure to stop a fall.

Common mistakes

• Standing on the top step of a step ladder.
• An untied leaning ladder with nobody at the foot.
• Ladder too short, so the worker stands on the top rungs with nothing to hold.
• Carrying a box or tool in one hand while climbing.
• Setting the ladder on loose boards, a pallet or a slope.
• Using a damaged ladder because the good one is on another floor.

In other countries

• Indonesia: Permenaker No. 9 of 2016 requires employers to make sure work at height using ladders meets K3 safety requirements. It sets out worker competence levels for moving to and from work platforms by ladder. Source: Permenaker 9/2016 (BPK database).

Use it on site: the ladders checklist and the toolbox talk to brief your crew.

Sources

1. Workplace Safety and Health (Work at Heights) Regulations 2013, Singapore Statutes Online (AGC).
2. Code of Practice for Working Safely at Heights, WSH Council.
3. Code of practice on safety and health in construction (revised 2022), International Labour Organization.
4. Permenaker No. 9 Tahun 2016 tentang K3 dalam Pekerjaan pada Ketinggian, Kemnaker (via BPK JDIH).

This is practical guidance, not legal advice. Laws and codes of practice change; always check the current official text and your site's own procedures.