Ladders and other equipment Safety

Safety is not only to be considered with the big pieces of equipment like your pressure washing machine or with the chemicals you use, but with everything else too.


Having to work off the ground is the second highest cause of server injury behind miss use of a pressure washer in this industry. It can be from improper use of a ladder, not wearing a safety harness on a roof, wearing incorrect foot wear or glasses. Reasons for not using or following safety guidelines can be big or small but even small ones can be a big mistake.

Take not wearing safety glasses, goggles or a face shield when using a pressure washer. Sure it can be a pain especially if you already wear glasses for daily vision but just one miss directed spray of water or chemical causing permanent blindness is not something to play with.

Ladders are the number one cause, according to OSHA, over all occupational hazard injuries in all industries. Here is a link to their flash card on ladder safety that you can print out on heavy stock paper, cut out and laminate. http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_Hurricane_Facts/portable_ladder_qc.pdf. You can also pay companies to supply you with these kinds of materials. Here is the same info on a single page form to place in your MSDS or safety book. http://www.osha.gov/Publications/portable_ladder_qc.html. OSHA's site http://www.osha.gov/ should be bookmarked on your computer for quick reference for all safety information.

There are also many good ladder safety videos on Utube and other sites that you can access and use in your safety instruction plan if you do not have the funds to go buy them. Here is just one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD0U6Df3ReA&feature=fvw. To find more just do a search inside Utube or other search engine for 'ladder safety'.

There is also added equipment that can improve ladder safety, things such as painter arm braces as they are sometimes called, or ladder stabilizers or ladder braces. These items attach to the ladder near the top that extend out and then will brace against a surface to help stabilize or diminish the side to side movement of a ladder. There are also ones that extend and curve out form the back of a ladder to rest on the roof surface to provide stability without increasing the width of the ladder. Here is a site that has some really neat ladder attachments. http://stores.homestead.com/LadderMaxLLC/StoreFront.bok They also have ladder levelers. Here is another site as well http://www.globalwholesalersinc.com/quick_connect.htm with ladder products.

Next once on the roof you need to be wearing a harness and have the proper anchoring to arrest a fall. You need to purchase a well fitting harness, ropes, anchors, clasps and hooks that are made for roof work. Here is one site I did not include yet in the other safety equipment blog http://www.discountsafetygear.com/. They have a wide range of items. Most of the time you will not be able to attach and remove to reuse roof anchors but you do not want to spend all your profit on the more expensive perment mount anchors. Most guys I have talked to suggest buying the inexpensive temporary or labeled 'reusable' anchors and plan not to remove them when you leave. Since removing anchors once attached can cause damage to the roof or take time and costs more money for you to try and patch the holes you have made to avoid causing future damage for the homeowner. Plus they will already be in place for work at this same location in the future.