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Toolbox Talks

Open the stepladder and lock it

Open the stepladder and lock it

Ladders 5 min 29 CFR 1926.1053

Why it matters

A stepladder used folded, or stood on from the top cap, throws you when your weight shifts. Open it fully, lock the spreaders, and stay off the top cap and the top step. Keep it on a stable, level surface, and do not lean out past the side rails.

The talk

The stepladder is still folded and leaned on a stud wall, because the hall feels too tight to open it. The spreaders hang loose. A painter stands on the top cap to reach the ceiling. Another person stands on the top step and leans past the side rail to drive a screw. One foot of the ladder sits on a scrap of plywood and the other sits on the bare slab, so it rocks. It is also standing in a doorway. Someone comes through with a sheet and clips a rail. The person up top has nothing left that is steady. That is a stepladder being used as something else.

Do not stand on the top cap or the top step of a stepladder. Open it fully and lock the spreaders. Do not use it folded and leaning, as if it were a straight ladder. The spreaders keep the two sides from walking apart or snapping shut. Use it only on a stable, level surface unless it is secured. A rocker on uneven ground throws you when you reach. If the ladder is in a doorway or a path where something can hit it, secure it or block the path. A sheet, a cart, or a person in a hurry will hit the rail. Do not lean out past the side rails. If you cannot reach, climb down and move the ladder closer to the work.

Before you step on a stepladder today, open it all the way and lock the spreaders. Check that it is not folded and leaned against a wall. Keep your feet off the top cap and off the top step. Set it on a stable, level surface. If the floor is not level and you cannot move the work, secure the ladder. Do not prop a foot on a block and hope. If the ladder sits in a doorway or a walk path, secure it or block that path so nobody can hit it. When the work is past the side rails, climb down and move the ladder. Do not lean your body out. If a spreader will not lock, or a rail is bent, take that ladder out and tell the foreman. Do not finish the reach from a bad ladder because the good one is down the hall.

Key points

  1. Do not stand on the top cap or the top step.
  2. Open the stepladder fully and lock the spreaders.
  3. Do not use it folded and leaning like a straight ladder.
  4. Use it on a stable, level surface unless it is secured.
  5. If it is in a doorway or a path, secure it or block the path.
  6. Do not lean out past the side rails.
  7. Climb down and move the ladder when the work is out of reach.

Do this

  • Open it fully and lock the spreaders before you climb.
  • Keep your feet off the top cap and the top step.
  • Set it on a stable, level surface, or secure it.
  • Block or secure it when it stands in a doorway or a path.
  • Climb down and move it when the work is past the rails.

Do not do this

  • Do not stand on the top cap or the top step.
  • Do not use a folded stepladder as a straight ladder.
  • Do not climb it if the spreaders will not lock.
  • Do not set it on uneven ground and leave it unsecured.
  • Do not lean your body out past the side rails.

Talk about it

  1. Where is a stepladder standing in a doorway or a walk path today, and who will block that path?
  2. Which reaches are past the side rails, so the ladder has to move?
  3. Are any of these ladders still folded and leaned against a wall?

This is a short crew briefing. It does not replace a competent person, training, or the law.

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