Ladder fall incident

Living Off the Grid in the City

Safety Talks. Ladder fall incident. Here I discuss a recent accident that occurred to me. It was a fall and injury caused by a series of unsafe actions. I was in a hurry, stressed, with too many activities scheduled for one day, and under the influence of caffeine and sugar. I took several unsafe decisions, including the unsafe practices during elevated work, standing on furniture, using a ladder on a slippery floor, and using a ladder in an unsafe manner. These bad decisions resulted in the ladder slipping from the wall, on the slippery floor, and I fell with the ladder and hit the ground hurting my back, neck and buttocks. Here's the full story so it doesn't happen to you. Share this story so it doesn't happen to anyone you know.

Transcript

00:00latter fall incident incident type non-fatal non-severe bodily injury bodily outcome back

00:08ankle and buttocks injury material outcome time off work loss of income for two to three weeks

00:14incident context it was a very hectic monday filled with challenging activities i had a big

00:21job first thing in the morning over one hour's drive from home i also had a very important job

00:26interview which i considered a lifetime opportunity then i had an important medical appointment

00:32another one and a half hour's drive from the location of the job site i finally departed

00:37for work late on the way i stopped for some coffee and french toast sticks at a burger king i had the

00:43coffee and the snack in route before arriving at the job site incident narrative after arriving late

00:49at a zaxby's restaurant in ashburn georgia a self-employed technician myself was in a hurry

00:55to get a job started the work involved installing four cameras and respective cable runs for each

01:01camera the cameras were to be ceiling mounted and the cables were to run on the ceiling from each

01:06camera location to the digital video recorder dvr the ceiling height varied depending on the area

01:12in the restaurant the lobby or dining area ceiling was the highest at about 10 to 12 feet high

01:17so i decided to start there after setting up i began to work at around 10 a.m time of opening for

01:24the restaurant this opening time made me more concerned about getting the job in the lobby done

01:29faster i began to install the first camera on the high ceiling in the northwest corner of the lobby

01:34for that i moved furniture and placed my gorilla ladder's multi-purpose ladder in an extended a-frame

01:40position during the camera installation which required drilling into the steel on a high ceiling

01:45truss i stepped off the ladder and climbed on top of the furniture affixed to the wall although this

01:51furniture provided a standing surface it was not designed for standing on it so i was taking

01:56unnecessary risks at that job that morning i completed the first camera install with no incident

02:02i had an interview for a job scheduled for 11 a.m so i hurried to get set up for the interview in my

02:08vehicle when i was in place for the interview to my relief i noticed the interview had been moved to

02:142 p.m but i still felt in a time crunch and rushed because i had a big job ahead needed to be done by time of the

02:20interview then travel far away for a medical appointment at 3 30 p.m i quickly moved to keep

02:26working on the job i began to install the cable for the first camera it was a challenging cable run

02:32that required running the cable mostly on the high exposed open ceiling over the lobby area i had to

02:37move the ladder multiple times and climb up and down from it to reach high into the ceiling for the

02:42cable installation i positioned myself for the last part of the cable run where the cable would

02:47transfer from the lobby to the manager's office the dvr location there a store manager was at a

02:53table using his laptop computer he offered to move to another spot to let me work there but upon

02:58inspection i saw the furniture was fixed and i would not be placing my ladder there so i told him

03:03he did not need to move i decided to position the ladder close to the wall that divided the lobby and

03:09the manager's office a high penetration point on the wall close to the full height of the ceiling

03:14about 12 feet so i decided to place or prop the ladder against the wall i put the ladder together

03:20doubled it and extended it to its max height i felt the floor underneath me was a bit slippery

03:25but i justified it felt just barely slippery but in hindsight it was difficult to fully appreciate

03:31how slippery it was by just rubbing the surface with my shoes i further justified that the floor

03:36wasn't wet or with greasy so i decided it was safe enough to get the job done and move on

03:41i felt it wasn't completely safe to prop a ladder on the wall on that floor i felt it unsafe but i

03:48kept justifying that it was going to be okay as long as i placed the ladder more vertical than usual

03:53and was careful the wall was a smooth wall with a brick texture and look i placed the extended ladder

03:59on the wall and got on the first few steps to test its stability for that i put my body weight on

04:04the first or second ladder rung and sort of pushed down on it to see if it moved it did not this

04:10further justified my faulty judgment i proceeded to go up the ladder holding onto the wall and when

04:16i reached the ceiling with my hands i thought it necessary to hold onto the truss structure in case

04:20the ladder slipped and to keep some of my weight off the ladder as i was attempting to push the cable

04:25through the wall up high the ladder suddenly slipped down the wall and i fell straight down with the

04:30ladder as i fell i recall attempting to grab onto the ceiling the wall or other object but there was no

04:36time where i could not reach i estimate my feet were around six feet above the floor at the time

04:42of the fall i fell straight down with the ladder close to the wall i felt i fell quite a distance

04:47more than i ever remember i impacted the floor on my feet in an almost standing position with my legs

04:53mostly straight i felt the impact with the floor on my feet and heels and it instantly transferred up my

04:59legs hips and back then i immediately fell backward and may have fallen partly on the ladder and the floor

05:05i did not feel i fell on anything else or any furniture during the fall but it all happened in a flash

05:12and with a loud bang from the ladder immediately after the fall i got on my knees and felt around to

05:18see if i was injured or hurt in any way i was feeling my back feet and legs and moved around looking for

05:24pain but i did not feel any pain at that moment i was able to move my feet and legs then my back and body

05:31i was relieved i could move but highly disappointed at myself saying i knew better not to put this ladder

05:37on this floor i slowly got up still looking for areas of pain and discomfort in my body especially

05:43my back i was complaining of my stupid decision to prop my ladder on that slippery floor the manager

05:49sitting close to the fall seemingly frozen in his reaction witnessed it all he asked me if i was okay

05:55and if i needed medical help i said i didn't think so and he said since i witnessed you fall i need to

06:01write a safety report on this i agreed and he wrote a report on the incident i felt fortunate not to have

06:08been badly hurt by the fall but at the same time angry and disappointed at the clearly stupid decisions

06:13i had been taking i did not feel pain discomfort and was walking around although shaken and slower

06:20i attempted to continue and finish the job less than 30 minutes later i decided to place the work

06:26on hold because the restaurant was filling with people and i still had most of the job to complete

06:31i decided to report the fall to the job managers through the field nation application

06:35i reported the fall and that i would not be completing the job but i did not give details about

06:41the fall on that day i left the site close to 2 p.m i still had an important interview and a

06:47doctor's appointment to make that day i began to feel some discomfort and slight pain on my middle

06:52and upper back fortunately i was able to make it to my interview and doctor's appointment by the time

06:58i got home that afternoon the pain in my back had increased so i decided to cancel all work for at

07:04least the next week and monitor my back pains closely later that day and the next day my back hurt in a

07:10spot near my spine in my middle back and my upper back on the right side as i write this about six days

07:16after the fall i am fortunate that my back pain has improved but it is not all clear i still feel

07:22some pain in one area of my spine i am still closely monitoring my back pain to see if i will need it

07:28checked by a doctor or if there is long-term damage i also have some pain in my right ankle

07:33neck and left buttock i have stopped scheduling work for the next couple of weeks

07:38things direct contributing factors to incident i believe these factors directly contributed to the

07:44accident engaging in clearly unsafe practices using a ladder on an unsafe surface using a ladder in an

07:53unsafe position

08:09indirect contributing factors to incident i believe these factors indirectly contributed to the accident

08:14one stress due to too much activity scheduled for one day

08:18two stress due to too much distance driven in one day

08:23three time pressure due to too many activities scheduled for one day

08:27four consuming coffee and high sugar foods just prior to starting dangerous elevated work

08:33which may contribute to poor judgment risky behavior and unsafe decision making

08:38five propping an inadequate ladder on a wall

08:42six using a ladder not specifically built for propping it on the wall

08:47seven not using fall arrest equipment

08:50lessons learned direct lessons learned

08:55do not engage in unsafe practices especially for elevated work

09:00do not position a ladder on a slippery surface or other unsafe surface

09:06contributing factors lessons learned

09:09do not schedule too much activity for one day

09:12do not schedule for too much distance to drive for one day

09:16do not rush work especially jobs that require safe decision practices

09:22do not consume caffeinated drinks and high sugar foods

09:26especially just prior to starting dangerous elevated work

09:29this may contribute to poor judgment risky behavior and unsafe decision making

09:35use fall arrest equipment whenever it is possibly needed

09:39do not use ladders unless specifically designed for the purpose used

09:43do a job hazard analysis for every job especially elevated work

09:48in a job hazard analysis you go over the required tasks of a job

09:52you take into account any risks involved with those tasks

09:55then you plan and take action to minimize risks for each task

10:05or manage to achieve that thing you focus on any practice

10:08to be back to the PA setting

10:16you

10:22Pissed and stay there you go banked

10:23in a new zona

10:25to help free

10:25because it does not want any π

10:26So get esto

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