Guide · 1926.1053 / 1910.23
Set extension ladders at 4:1 and run the side rails at least three feet past the landing.
Most ladder falls are not exotic. The feet kick, the ladder is too short, someone stands on the top cap, or both hands are full of a tool. Construction portable ladders are 29 CFR 1926.1053. General industry ladders are 1910.23. The physics is the same.
If you cannot set it on a firm, level surface, at the right angle, with a way to hold on when you step off, pick a different access.
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The 4:1 setup is how you keep the base from kicking
For a non-self-supporting ladder, put the feet one foot out from the wall for every four feet of working length to the top support. A 20-foot working length needs about five feet of standoff. Too steep and you pull the ladder over backward. Too flat and the feet slide.
Measure working length, not the number printed on the rail. Extension-ladder overlap eats height. Set both feet, both rails bearing, no stack of pallets under one shoe.
Three feet of rail above the landing is a handhold, not decoration
When a portable ladder is your access to a roof, mezzanine, or platform, 1926.1053 and 1910.23 both require the side rails to extend at least three feet (0.9 m) above that landing. That is what you grab when you step on or off.
If the ladder is too short for that extension, you do not shrug. Secure the top to a rigid support that will not deflect, and provide a grabrail or similar grasping device. Both. Then still think hard about whether you should have brought a longer ladder.
Stepladders are not lean-to ladders
Spread the legs fully. Lock the spreader. Face the steps. Do not stand on the top cap or the top step. Do not lean a folded stepladder against a wall and climb the back. If you need to get to a landing, use an extension or a straight ladder meant for that, not a step stool on a drum.
Do not move, shift, or extend a ladder while someone is on it. Do not overload it. Read the duty rating on the rail and believe it, including the person plus tools plus the piece of duct they should have hoisted separately.
Three-point contact is how you climb
Two feet and one hand, or two hands and one foot, on the ladder at all times. Carry tools on a belt or haul them with a line. A drill in one hand means you get one point of contact when the foot slips.
OSHA’s portable-ladder rules are full of setup, inspection, and use requirements. Three-point contact is the climbing habit that keeps those rules from becoming an incident report. Face the ladder. Do not slide down the rails.
Inspect it like it can kill you, because it can
Look at the feet, spreaders, rungs, rails, and locks before the shift. Cracked rails, missing feet, oil on the rungs, or a bent spreader: tag it out. Wooden rails should not be painted in a way that hides damage. Metal rungs need a surface you can feel with a work boot.
Place it out of doorways and traffic, or barricade it. Keep the area at the top and bottom clear. On construction, a competent person inspects ladders. In a plant, you are still the last person who sees it before your weight hits the first rung.
When a ladder is the wrong tool
If you need both hands on the work for more than a moment, you probably need a scaffold, a lift, or a platform with guardrails. See fall protection. A ladder is access. It is a poor work platform.
Related: OSHA 10 construction covers ladders as an elective topic. It does not replace teaching your crew how to set the one in the gang box.