Ladder Safety Plans Miss Differences in Workers
A Professional Safety Journal article argues ladder programs built around one default worker may leave some workers exposed to greater risk.
Updated on Nov. 12, 2026 in Women’s Issues
An article in the November issue of the American Society of Safety Professionals peer-reviewed journal argues that ladder safety programs designed for one default worker may miss differences in workers' physical traits. NIOSH reported 22,710 workplace ladder injuries and 161 ladder-related workplace fatalities in the U.S. in 2020.
Why it matters
The article, written by Ronilla Ernest of Safety Leader Institute, LLC, says grip strength, reach, balance recovery, upper-body strength and PPE fit affect how much room for error a worker has on a ladder. Its recommendations target how employers plan tasks and buy protective equipment across the U.S. workforce.
NIOSH recorded 22,710 workplace ladder injuries and 161 fatalities in the U.S. in 2020. The article does not report injury counts broken down by gender or by task, so the share affecting women workers is not established.
The players
American Society of Safety Professionals
The American Society of Safety Professionals is a professional association for safety practitioners that publishes a peer-reviewed journal on workplace safety research and practice.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
NIOSH is the U.S. federal agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that conducts research and tracks injury and fatality data for American workplaces.
Ronilla Ernest
Ronilla Ernest is a safety consultant and the founder and principal consultant of Safety Leader Institute, LLC, who wrote the article on integrating ladder safety evidence into safety management systems.
The details
The article reviews ergonomic and biomechanical research showing that grip strength, reach, balance recovery, upper-body strength and PPE fit influence how much room for error a worker has on a ladder. It recommends job hazard analyses and pre-task planning to assess reach, duration, load handling and descent before work begins, and it urges PPE purchases to account for size ranges, fit checks and input from women on the job.
Timeline
2020: NIOSH records 22,710 ladder injuries and 161 fatalities in the U.S.
November 2026: The ASSP journal article on ladder safety is published.
Culture Shift
The article applies to ladder safety a broader push in occupational safety research to design protections around how workers actually differ in size, strength and fit, rather than around a single default worker. It builds directly on NIOSH's national surveillance counts, using them as the baseline against which it argues that injury data should be sorted by task, ladder type and gender where practical.
Workers and supervisors who handle ladder tasks can use the article's pre-task planning steps to assess reach, duration, load handling and descent before starting. Employers buying PPE can check size ranges and fit, and ask women on the job for input before purchasing.
The takeaway
Ladder injuries are not evenly experienced across a workforce, so safety plans that check fit, reach and strength for each worker are more likely to prevent harm. Asking workers themselves what fits and what is safe is a practical first step.
Further reading
For more on how workplace policy shapes women's safety and daily life, see Women's Issues.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Occupational Health & Safety.
