Spring is upon us (hopefully), and as we venture back outside, we begin the yearly ritual of spring cleaning. However, in the rush to revive our lawns and gardens, accidents happen.
My own household cleaning misadventure began on a beautiful Saturday morning in Salem. As part of tidying up before a party, I found myself lofted on a ladder cleaning our second story windows. As I reached to scrub the last one, my extension ladder slipped out from underneath me!
I plummeted 12 feet to the concrete driveway below and landed on top of the ladder. In all, I received five broken ribs, a cracked radius bone in my forearm, a crushed wrist (which required surgery) and several stitches on my chin.
The accident put me out of work for three weeks. In my haste to “get ’er done,” I placed the ladder’s top half (without the rubber feet) in the ground, which failed to secure it properly. I’ve always been told that lifting, climbing, trimming and other spring-cleaning activities heightened the risk of household injury. Only, I never thought I would become a statistic.
According to the Home Safety Council (www.homesafetycouncil.org), there are more than 10 million unintentional home injuries in the U.S. per year that end up with visits to the hospital emergency room.
- These injuries result in more than 20,000 deaths per year.
- Falls and poisonings account for more than half.
- For falls over 10 feet (that includes mine), more than 50 percent are fatal!
Ladders are a major culprit in outdoor-related accidents. Not including sports, they were the No.1 cause of head injuries treated in 2007 – 17,124 ladder cases to be exact. That was more than falls from porches (16,124) and power tool mishaps (9,666).
There is considerable safety information on the Internet related to home injuries, ladder safety in particular. Here are the tips that resonated with me:
- Use the 4-to-1 rule for extension ladders. For each 4 feet of distance between the ground and the upper point of contact (wall, roof, etc.), move the base of the ladder out 1 foot.
- An extension or straight ladder used to access an elevated surface must extend at least 3 feet above the point of contact.
- Keep your body centered on the ladder, and use your belt buckle as a safety test. If your buckle passes over a rung, you are reaching too far.
- Stand at or below the highest safe standing level. For an extension ladder, this level is the fourth rung from the top.
In the rush to enjoy the outdoors, don’t leave your safety smarts inside. I encourage everyone to enjoy all the pleasures spring can bring. In my case, I consider it a blessing I’m alive and healthy. So, while you’re cleaning, please be safe and remember these tips next time you hop on a ladder!
(John Jolliff is the Regional Vice President of Operations)
John, I had no idea about how seriously injured you were in this accident. I’m so glad it was not worse!! Good information in the article, thanks for sharing!
I think we should surcharge his auto and home policies because he is obviously another accident waiting to happen!
Good info John! Sorry to hear of your injuries, my goodness it could have been so much worse too! Maybe hire out window washers this spring?
Thank you for the great article, John. Glad to hear you’re okay. You should have stayed in Minnesota. The slow-to-melt snowbanks here would have cushioned your fall!
great info to share with clients, I am glad you are doing better.
John,
Sorry to hear about you fall, yikes! I will be more careful next time, I am up and down my ladder all the time.
Tom
Your story hit a nerve – I always worried that my claim adjuster husband would have a ladder accident. (fortunately, he now does Workers Comp so no more ladders!) I hope our own COUNTRY adjusters know these safety rules!!!! Thanks for sharing John!