2018 ALI Ladder Safety Training and Citations Report€¦ · ALI Ladder Safety Training and Citations Report Introduction: The American Ladder Institute (ALI) commissions the Ladder

2018

ALI Ladder Safety Training and Citations Report

Introduction:The American Ladder Institute (ALI) commissions the Ladder Safety Training and Citations Survey bi-annually. The first survey was conducted in 2016. This is the report based on the data collected during the 2018 survey. In addition to comparisons between 2016 and 2018 data, you will find the following information within this report:

• Frequency of ladder citations • Types of ladder citations• Fees associated with ladder citations• Types of ladder-related injuries

• Preferred methods of ladder safety education

Methodology:The Ladder Safety Training and Citations Survey is conducted by SmithBucklin Marketing and Communications Services based in Chicago, Illinois. The survey was disseminated to ladder safety training managers via email in summer 2018 and findings were collected in fall 2018. The survey was 30-questions and received a total of 498 responses.

Findings and Year-over-Year Comparisons 02

Demographics 12

Table of Contents

2ALI Ladder Safety Training and Citations Report | americanladderinstitute.org

Findings

Less than a quarter of organizations had ladder-related accidents in the past two years and nearly no accidents resulted in the loss of life. This remains on par with 2016 findings.

Yes 24%

No 69.8%

I don’t know 6.2%

Yes 0.6%

No 90.7%

I don’t know 8.7%

0.6%

Loss of life?

8.7%

90.7%

Ladder-related Accidents?

6.2%

24%

69.8%


Missing the last step and overreaching remain the two most cited issues as causes for ladder accidents.

Indi

vidu

al m

isse

d th

e la

st s

tep

of th

e

ladd

er w

hen

clim

bing

dow

n

Indi

vidu

al s

tood

on

the

top

rung

/ladd

er c

ap

Envi

ronm

enta

l iss

ues

(e.g

., ra

in, s

now

, win

d)La

dder

was

not

the

right

siz

e fo

r the

job

(i.e.

, len

gth)

Ladd

er w

as n

ot th

e rig

ht D

uty

Rat

ing

for t

he

job

(i.e.

, too

muc

h w

eigh

t on

the

ladd

er)

Indi

vidu

al d

id n

ot w

ear

slip

-res

ista

nt s

hoes

Ladd

er w

as n

ot in

goo

d

wor

king

con

ditio

nLa

dder

not

on

firm

, lev

el g

roun

d

Thre

e po

ints

of c

onta

ct w

ere

not u

sed

whe

n cl

imbi

ng

Indi

vidu

al o

verr

each

ed

whi

le o

n th

e la

dder

36.1%

40.00%

35.00%

30.00%

25.00%

20.00%

15.00%

10.00%

5.00%

0.00%

20.9% 10.1% 26.6% 5.7% 5.1% 16.5% 26% 26.6% 34.2%

Year-over-Year Comparison

• Percentage of people citing missing the last step and overreaching significantly decreased from 2016 to 2018• 2016

• Missing the last step: 47.7%• Overreaching: 43.2%

• 2018• Missing the last step: 36.1%• Overreaching: 34.2%

Findings


Findings

As seen in 2016, a significant majority of respondents are aware that the misuse of ladders is among the top 10 most frequently cited OSHA violations over the past five years.

Ladder-related Accidents?

20.7%

79.3%

Yes 79.3%

No 20.7%

8 out of 10 respondents have not received any ladder-related citations from OSHA in the past 12 months.

We do not operate in the United States

I do not know

7+

5-6

3-4

1-2

0

36%

77.3%

0.7%

0%

1%

10.7%

4.3%

40.00% 60.00% 80.00%20.00%0.00%

Cost of Citations Per Year

$0 64.9%

I do not know 25.2%

$1 - $1,000 5.3%

$1,001 - $5,000 1.9%

$5,001 - $10,000 1.2%

More than $10,000 1.5%


Findings

Nearly half of respondents indicated that their ladder-related accidents have decreased over the past five years.

Yes 52.2%

No 22.5%

I don’t know 25.3%

Accidents Could Be Avoided

with Training?

25.3%

22.5%

52.2%

Decreased Significantly 25%

Decreased Slightly 15.4%

Stayed Approximately the Same

31.2%

Increased Slightly 4.5%

Increased Significantly 0.3%

N/A or I don’t know 23.6%

Relative Frequency of

Ladder-related Accidents Over the

Past 5 Years

31.2%

15.4%

25%23.6%

4.5%0.3%


As seen in 2016, 9 out of 10 organizations consider ladder safety training to be somewhat to extremely important.

Not Important At All – 0.4%

2.6% 6.3%

1.9%

0% 100%

4.1% 16.4%

Extremely Important – 68.3%


• 6% of respondents received 1-2 OSHA ladder citations over the past year compared to 2% in 2016

• Of those that received citations in 2018, the financial cost was far less than in 2016• 2016

• More than $10,000: 6.7%• 2018

• More than $1,000: 4.6%

Findings


Similar to 2016, nearly all organizations use a form of ladder safety training, and the majority do not pay for it.

Use Ladder Safety Training

95.4%

4.6%

Pay for Ladder Safety Training

66.4%

24.7%

8.9%

Yes 95.4%

No 4.6%

No 66.4%

Unknown 8.9%

Yes 24.7%

Similar to 2016, 7 out of 10 employees are encouraged to refresh their ladder safety training every year to two years.

*Annually was the most common response, followed by monthly during staff meetings

9.4%

13.5%

16.9%

2.2%

58%

Once a year 58%

Once every other year 9.4%

Never/Employees are not encouraged to refresh their ladder safety

2.2%

Other (please specify)* 16.9%

New employees only 13.5%

Findings



Findings

• In 2016, 9.3% of respondents said training was only for new employees versus 13.5% in 2018• In 2016, 3.8% of respondents said employees were never encouraged to refresh their ladder safety

training versus 2.2% in 2018

Similar to 2016, three quarters of the organizations mandate training and have done so for many years.

Ladder Safety Training

Mandated?

78.2%

16.9%

4.9%

Encouraged/Mandated for How Long?

32.3%

16.5% 27.1%

15.1%

9%

7+ years 32.3%

Not sure 16.5%

0-2 years 27.1%

2-4 years 15.1%

4-6 years 9%

Yes 78.2%

No 16.9%

Unknown 4.9%

Year-over-Year Comparison• In 2016, 14.6% of respondents had encouraged/mandated for 0-2 years; this

jumped to 27.1% in 2018.


Proprietary programs and LadderSafetyTraining.org are the top two resources used for ladder safety training.

60.00%

52.47%

23.19%

49.43%

12.55% 12.93%

42.59%

5.70%

9.89%

50.00%

40.00%

30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%

My

own

orga

niza

tion’

s pr

ogra

m(s

)

Ladd

erS

afet

yTra

inin

g.or

g

Nat

iona

l Saf

ety

Cou

ncil

prog

ram

(s)

I do

not k

now

Ladd

er

man

ufac

ture

r’s

prog

ram

(s)

Nat

iona

l Ins

titut

e fo

r

Occ

upat

iona

l Saf

ety

and

Hea

lth (N

IOS

H) r

esou

rces

OS

HA

reso

urce

s

Oth

er

Findings


Year-over-Year Comparison• In 2016, proprietary programs and OSHA resources were the top two resources for

ladder safety training.• In 2018, proprietary programs and LadderSafetyTraining.org were the top two

resources for ladder safety training.

In-person, classroom ladder safety training and video are the top two formats of ladder safety training.

60% 70% 80% 90% 100%50%40%30%20%10%0%

62%

49.8%

In-person (in the

classroom)

In-person (on the

job site)

Poster, flyer and/or

pamphlet

Video (online

or DVD)

Webinar

Other (please specify)

23.6%

11%

58.1%

5.7% “Tool Box Talks” was mentioned frequently as an “other” resource.

Findings


In 2018, video surpassed in-person on the job site training as the second most popular format of training. The types of ladders used correspond with the most viewed LadderSafetyTraining.org videos.

60% 70% 80% 90% 100%50%40%30%20%10%0%

87.3%

Articulated Ladder

Stepladder

Mobile Ladder

Portable Ladder

Single and Extension

Other (please specify)

32.1%

80.9%

58%

7.9%

23.9%

The majority of respondents feels that ladder safety training helps decrease OSHA citations.

69.1%3.4%

27.5%

Yes 69.1%

No 3.4%

Unknown 27.5%

Findings


The top three reasons why ladder safety training did not decrease OSHA citations is 1) human error, 2) not enough oversight at the job site and 3) training is not mandated or enforced.

60.00%

70.00%

29.4%

11.8%

2.9%0%

2.9% 2.9% 2.9% 1.5%7.3%

10.3%

2.9%

60.3%

50.00%

40.00%

30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%

Hum

an e

rror

Not

eno

ugh

over

sigh

t at t

he jo

b si

te

Lack

of a

cces

s to

war

ning

tags

/labe

ls to

affix

to a

n ou

t of s

ervi

ce/b

roke

n la

dder

Info

rmat

ion

in th

e av

aila

ble

trai

ning

doe

s

not c

over

the

type

s of

ladd

ers

we

use

Trai

ning

is n

ot

com

preh

ensi

ve e

noug

hTr

aini

ng d

oes

not o

ccur

freq

uent

ly e

noug

h

Trai

ning

is n

ot a

vaila

ble

in la

ngua

ge th

at

som

e or

all

of th

e w

orke

rs a

t job

site

sN

ot a

ll em

ploy

ees

have

be

en tr

aine

d

Ladd

er s

afet

y tr

aini

ng is

too

new

to th

e co

mpa

ny to

hav

e ha

d a

posi

tive

impa

ct o

n re

duci

ng th

e nu

mbe

r of

OS

HA

cita

tions

Trai

ning

is n

ot m

anda

ted/

enfo

rced

for

all e

mpl

oyee

s us

ing

ladd

ers

The

form

at o

f the

ava

ilabl

e tr

aini

ng is

not

con

duci

ve fo

r

lear

ning

(e.g

., vi

deo

or in

-per

son

vers

us a

flye

r/pa

mph

let)

Oth

er


• The top two reasons why ladder safety training did not decrease remained the same in both 2016 and 2018. However, in 2018, respondents identified that the lack of training mandates as an additional reason why ladder safety training did not decrease OSHA citations.

Findings

Respondent Demographics


More than three quarters of respondents stated that they have insight into ladder injuries at their organization.

78%

22.1%

More than half of respondents were Safety Directors or Safety Administrators.

Business Owner 5.3%

Contractor 2.5%

Facilities Manager/Director 7%

Human Resources Manager

1.1%

Insurance Manager 0.6%

Risk Management Manager

2.2%

Safety Administrator 19.1%

Safety Director 25.2%

Superintendent 1.4%

Team Lead/Foreman 8.7%

Other (please specify) 26.9%

Yes 78%

No 22%


Most respondents were in the construction industry with telecommunications, government and education in a close race for second.

Aerospace 1.1%

Agriculture 1.1%

A/V 0.8%

Auto 0.4%

Aviation 1.5%

Education 6.9%

Energy/Gas/Utilities 3.8%

Entertainment 0.4%

Financial 0.0%

Government 6.1%

Hi-Tech 1.1%

Housing/Construction 14.6%

Insurance 0.8%

International 0.0%

Maintenance 5.8%

Moving 0.4%

Media/Communication 0.8%

Non-Profit 0.8%

Retail 2.3%

Telecommunications 6.5%

Other (please specify) 44.8%


Over a quarter of the respondents work for organizations that have a total gross revenue in excess of $5 million.

Less than $500,000 7.3%

$500,000 - $750,000 1.6%

$1 million - $2.5 million 2.3%

$2.5 million - $5 million 5%

$5 million - $10 million 2.3%

$10 million - $20 million 5%

More than $20 million 19.7%

I don’t know 56.8%

1 in 3 respondents are employees at a mid-sized organization (50-499 employees).

Fewer than 10 8%

10-19 3.1%

20-49 11.5%

50-99 13.8%

100-499 30.5%

500-999 7.6%

1,000-4,999 9.9%

5,000-9,999 2.7%

More than 10,000 5.3%

I don’t know 7.6%


One third of respondents are planning to participate in National Ladder Safety Month 2019.

Yes – 35.1%

No – 10.7%

Not sure yet –

54.2%

7 out of 10 respondents are familiar with National Ladder Safety Month.

Yes – 69.7%

No – 30.3%

National Ladder Safety Month

Learn more at LadderSafetyMonth.com

NATIONALLADDER SAFETY

MONTH

2018 ALI Ladder Safety Training and Citations Report€¦ · ALI Ladder Safety Training and Citations Report Introduction: The American Ladder Institute (ALI) commissions the Ladder

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