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Ladder Slipped - Ouch - My Story

Mart1001

Active member
Messages
397
Of course, it would never happen to me, I'm far too careful. I never take a chance, and I pride myself on my safety precautions. I bought my LadderMate for 25 quid off of e-bay years ago and it's the best bit of kit I've ever bought. I throw it on the foot of my Titans whenever there is gravel, decking or those slimey paving slabs....grass of course, is never a problem.

So what happened last Thursday ?

I'm cleaning the windows of a regular 4 bedroom house where there are three windows up, and three down at the rear. I clean two of the first floor windows, then put my ladder in place of the third but, return to clean the two ground floor windows first, to break up the monotony. A neighbour pops round and asks 'do you have 5 minutes to clean mine' ?
I had to decline, I'm way too far behind trying to catch up after Xmas and recovering from a cold. I could maybe fit her in on Monday etc etc.
I return to finish the ground floor windows and then I climb my ladder to clean the third bedroom window. I soaped up, started squeegee-ing and was just thinking to myself, 'um, could I possibly fit her in if I'm quick' and then I felt it, my ladder was sliding, perfectly smoothly and building momentum rapidly.

Everything started going through my mind but my main thought was, "of course it's slipping, I didn't even check it and yes, I have had to use my LadderMate here before because the paving is slimey below this window"... and then I had a flash back of even seeing the green slime when I put my ladder up but I wasn't even thinking at the time, I was too busy giggling to myself about how that neighbour thought it only takes 5 minutes to clean her windows. Of course all of this was flashing through my mind at light speed and now, I was half way down and the reality cut in....yes this is really happening, I'm on my way to an accident.

At this point I started telling myself, LAND ON YOUR FEET, land on your feet, don't fall, don't land upside down. I felt I was surfing the ladder, is the tip of my ladder going to go through the kitchen window which lies directly below...is anyone witnessing this...can I make it look like everything's in control and it's not as seriuous as it looks, I even had a flash of posting this thread on this forum, am I going to be lucky or, could this end my career or WORSE ?
****, here's the floor......brace !

It stung, my god it stung. Pain shot up my legs and into my back....argh my back. Clatter clatter from my Titans and then the accident stopped. I let out a big 'f...ing hell' and immediately looked at my legs, please don't let me see any strange twists....no, all I can see is my ladders around my lower legs....can I wiggle my feet, yes I can. But no way could I move, the pain in my back didn't last but my legs were stinging like hell. I lay there maybe 30 seconds repeatly saying 'oh f..k'. I looked up at the window and could see the half cleaned glass....how strange I felt such concern for the terrible job I'd done. I pulled my legs out of my ladders and lay on my back for a minute, no way could I stand up....then I felt terribly sick, I moved to all fours and edged towards a drain to throw up but, it passed, I was ok....just breathe....breathe.

After a couple of minutes, I decided to try to get to my feet, I managed it and wobbled down the garden a few yards to try to walk off any injury. My mop was over there, my squeegee was over here and my business cards had exited my pocket and lay all over the yard. I unbuckled my belt and went out front to my car. I got in, lit a cigarette and phoned the wife at work to tell her. My shins were all bloody, I had scraped them as they went between the rungs, my left calf was bruised, my left wrist was sore.

A couple of cigarettes later, I returned to the scene, picked up my ladder, and repositioned it against the window, I was curious, I got inside the ladder and gently pushed on the bottom rung, it was like a skate on ice....I had been doomed from the moment I went up there. How did it hold for so long, allowing me to soap up and start to squeegee before it went ?

I grabbed my LadderMate and went back up there to finish that, and the kitchen window. Thankfully, there was no damage to the property. I could barely use my left wrist. I finished up and struggled to rack my ladders, I could barely push down the levers of my fast release clamps, my left wrist was now really becoming sore. Time to drive home, which I did by mostly changing gear with my right hand. A couple of hours later and once the wife got home from work, she drove me to A&E for an X-ray on my wrist which the Doctor was convinced, was broken. It wasn't and I was given a splint and returned home.

I've recovered quite well over the weekend, I couldn't move my wrist at all by the end of Thursday night but after a few days of rest, it's a lot more free today, yellow-ish with brusing and there's no way I could put pressure on it but, at least it's free enough for me to be able to type this out.
My legs aren't too sore and I can now walk without a limp. I'm hoping to be back by the end of the week to finish last Thursday - Friday's work.....but we'll see.

So has this put me off ladders, no not at all. It was my complacency that caused this accident, concentrating too much on the job, the round, the customer and totally over looking my ladder safety, something I have been strict on for the past 5 years. Of course my ladder slipped, I put it on slimey slabs and climbed it, that is what happened here....why did I forget all my safety ? Distracted by a customer...positioning my ladder before I was ready to climb it and therefore forgetting my checks...going with the flow and thinking of what next rather than what now. All of these little things contributed but at the end of the day, I got complacent, I forgot about the danger, it's like being so used to crossing a shark infested lake by boat that one day, you decide to swim but forget about...um, what was the danger again ?

I can NEVER let this happen again, oh I was lucky yes, oh I might not be next time, of course I realise all of this but, I have to make sure that there is never a next time. Ladders are perfectly safe as long as they are used in safe conditions and that also means, with a clear mind. I must remind myself of this every single time I put my foot on the first rung from here on end. And I must keep trying to dream up that device that works like a LadderMate but, never leaves the ladder and never gets in the way of the job.

Thanks for reading.

 
Scary stuff. I done similar thing a month after starting window cleaning. Shin scarred, right wrist muscle damaged,can barely do a pressup due to it. Slippy slabs n lack of experience at the time. Happened on the day i was giving custys letter that i would be using water fed for tops. Did it put me of ladders,yes. I went back next day with ankle bandaged up to finish job.

How did it make me feel, stupid at myself. Also the slabs of this not so cheap house were green. So i wasnt happy with that. technically if someone wants u to work on their premises,it should be safe to do so, if their not prepared to maintain surface,then use wfp. Next time u might not be as fortunate n your wife will be spoon feeding you,not fun,all because of cleaning a £2window, is it really worth it,no.
Hoping you a speedy recovery,take care.

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Remembering the time it took to get my ladder spurs from the van week before xmas to give extra safety on a damp cheap crappy decking so could do two rear windows.

Time well spent by me, if I had a slip like Mart1001 I could of got off unharmed..........maybe, or seriously injured.....maybe, or worse!!!

He said it was down to complacency........and complacency is a very dangerous thing that we all have within us.......Being up a ladder and thinking if I just stretch that bit further then I can do that pane aswell instead of going down the ladder and repositioning it is complacency at work, Could get away with it twenty times or more, but the one time you do not!!!!!

Thanks Mart1001 for reminding us.

 
Sounds nasty fella! A major plus is that i always have my brother with me, we work as a pair. There is always somebody there to foot any ladder for me when it comes to doing gutters or accessing flat roofs. For windows we are wfp


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Yep, you're right..... it'll never happen again..... till the next time it does because there's one factor you cant control...... the human factor.  

They're called accidents cause we dont PLAN to do it.... it just happens.  

Glad you got away without serious injuries this time......  hope you will too next time.  

You may plan for it to NEVER happen again but once again that's why it's called an accident.   

Lastly, ladders are NOT 'perfectly safe' of they were 'perfectly safe' you wouldnt be telling us this tale...   however i'm glad you are telling us and we arent reading it in the obituries. 

 
You can reduce risk by increasing your knowledge of safety i.e. implement behavioural based safety systems like - Take 5, you complete it before all jobs and if the task is going to take a while you complete it again say you have lunch. Basically gets your mind thinking about the hazards in your workplace. 

https://safetyculture.com/solutions/take-5-safety-checklist/

I used to work in the oil and gas industry and safety was a very big factor..

 
Of course, it would never happen to me, I'm far too careful. I never take a chance, and I pride myself on my safety precautions. I bought my LadderMate for 25 quid off of e-bay years ago and it's the best bit of kit I've ever bought. I throw it on the foot of my Titans whenever there is gravel, decking or those slimey paving slabs....grass of course, is never a problem.

So what happened last Thursday ?

I'm cleaning the windows of a regular 4 bedroom house where there are three windows up, and three down at the rear. I clean two of the first floor windows, then put my ladder in place of the third but, return to clean the two ground floor windows first, to break up the monotony. A neighbour pops round and asks 'do you have 5 minutes to clean mine' ?
I had to decline, I'm way too far behind trying to catch up after Xmas and recovering from a cold. I could maybe fit her in on Monday etc etc.
I return to finish the ground floor windows and then I climb my ladder to clean the third bedroom window. I soaped up, started squeegee-ing and was just thinking to myself, 'um, could I possibly fit her in if I'm quick' and then I felt it, my ladder was sliding, perfectly smoothly and building momentum rapidly.

Everything started going through my mind but my main thought was, "of course it's slipping, I didn't even check it and yes, I have had to use my LadderMate here before because the paving is slimey below this window"... and then I had a flash back of even seeing the green slime when I put my ladder up but I wasn't even thinking at the time, I was too busy giggling to myself about how that neighbour thought it only takes 5 minutes to clean her windows. Of course all of this was flashing through my mind at light speed and now, I was half way down and the reality cut in....yes this is really happening, I'm on my way to an accident.

At this point I started telling myself, LAND ON YOUR FEET, land on your feet, don't fall, don't land upside down. I felt I was surfing the ladder, is the tip of my ladder going to go through the kitchen window which lies directly below...is anyone witnessing this...can I make it look like everything's in control and it's not as seriuous as it looks, I even had a flash of posting this thread on this forum, am I going to be lucky or, could this end my career or WORSE ?
****, here's the floor......brace !

It stung, my god it stung. Pain shot up my legs and into my back....argh my back. Clatter clatter from my Titans and then the accident stopped. I let out a big 'f...ing hell' and immediately looked at my legs, please don't let me see any strange twists....no, all I can see is my ladders around my lower legs....can I wiggle my feet, yes I can. But no way could I move, the pain in my back didn't last but my legs were stinging like hell. I lay there maybe 30 seconds repeatly saying 'oh f..k'. I looked up at the window and could see the half cleaned glass....how strange I felt such concern for the terrible job I'd done. I pulled my legs out of my ladders and lay on my back for a minute, no way could I stand up....then I felt terribly sick, I moved to all fours and edged towards a drain to throw up but, it passed, I was ok....just breathe....breathe.

After a couple of minutes, I decided to try to get to my feet, I managed it and wobbled down the garden a few yards to try to walk off any injury. My mop was over there, my squeegee was over here and my business cards had exited my pocket and lay all over the yard. I unbuckled my belt and went out front to my car. I got in, lit a cigarette and phoned the wife at work to tell her. My shins were all bloody, I had scraped them as they went between the rungs, my left calf was bruised, my left wrist was sore.

A couple of cigarettes later, I returned to the scene, picked up my ladder, and repositioned it against the window, I was curious, I got inside the ladder and gently pushed on the bottom rung, it was like a skate on ice....I had been doomed from the moment I went up there. How did it hold for so long, allowing me to soap up and start to squeegee before it went ?

I grabbed my LadderMate and went back up there to finish that, and the kitchen window. Thankfully, there was no damage to the property. I could barely use my left wrist. I finished up and struggled to rack my ladders, I could barely push down the levers of my fast release clamps, my left wrist was now really becoming sore. Time to drive home, which I did by mostly changing gear with my right hand. A couple of hours later and once the wife got home from work, she drove me to A&E for an X-ray on my wrist which the Doctor was convinced, was broken. It wasn't and I was given a splint and returned home.

I've recovered quite well over the weekend, I couldn't move my wrist at all by the end of Thursday night but after a few days of rest, it's a lot more free today, yellow-ish with brusing and there's no way I could put pressure on it but, at least it's free enough for me to be able to type this out.
My legs aren't too sore and I can now walk without a limp. I'm hoping to be back by the end of the week to finish last Thursday - Friday's work.....but we'll see.

So has this put me off ladders, no not at all. It was my complacency that caused this accident, concentrating too much on the job, the round, the customer and totally over looking my ladder safety, something I have been strict on for the past 5 years. Of course my ladder slipped, I put it on slimey slabs and climbed it, that is what happened here....why did I forget all my safety ? Distracted by a customer...positioning my ladder before I was ready to climb it and therefore forgetting my checks...going with the flow and thinking of what next rather than what now. All of these little things contributed but at the end of the day, I got complacent, I forgot about the danger, it's like being so used to crossing a shark infested lake by boat that one day, you decide to swim but forget about...um, what was the danger again ?

I can NEVER let this happen again, oh I was lucky yes, oh I might not be next time, of course I realise all of this but, I have to make sure that there is never a next time. Ladders are perfectly safe as long as they are used in safe conditions and that also means, with a clear mind. I must remind myself of this every single time I put my foot on the first rung from here on end. And I must keep trying to dream up that device that works like a LadderMate but, never leaves the ladder and never gets in the way of the job.

Thanks for reading.
Glad your ok. That description is pretty powerful! Good for everyone to read.

 
Lad who lives near me works for another who tells them to go up on dodgy decking etc had a fall 2 weeks before Xmas, he landed on his feet and his legs crumpled, shins basically exploded and he will never work again, he's lucky to be limping about..

 
@Mart1001 That was a fascinating true story. I'm going to use it in my novel if that's ok? You said "Flashing through my mind at the speed of light" You will find it hard to believe but that is true. You hear people say my life flashed before my very eyes. The reason this happens is because you are in danger and the mind is looking through your memory for similar incidents to know what to do and at the speed of light. Yes the reason it happened was because the neighbour distracted you and altered your procedure. Good to hear you are ok :1f44d:

 
Lad who lives near me works for another who tells them to go up on dodgy decking etc had a fall 2 weeks before Xmas, he landed on his feet and his legs crumpled, shins basically exploded and he will never work again, he's lucky to be limping about..


That's why I always screw a bit of wood down on decking or I don't go up ladder! Well I am a joiner but have a cheap drill, bit of 2 by 2 and a few three inch screws in your van.

 
Best thing for tying off a ladder is boring into the wall and fix an eyelet. Then tie bottom rung to it. After you are finished, fill the hole with silicon or do as the sky guys do and screw a bolt in.

 
Glad your safe and can tell the story. One abbreviation WFP. [emoji850][emoji1303]


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@Mart1001 You have being very lucky I had a similar incident over 15 years ago now, Yes I landed on my feet but they were tucked under the ladder rungs as well from a 7ft fall cleaning the upper windows of a low cottage crushed vertabrae by 70% snapped spine in 2 places I could have spent the rest of my life in wheelchair.

The message is don't be complacent which everyone can be at times, accidents can and will happen not worth losing what you have, their have being many times over the years when i have seen people in wheelchairs and thought that could have being me. 



 

 
Glad you're ok!

What I get from this is that even people who are experienced, careful and conscious about ladder safety and have proper equipment can still have a fall. 

I did trad for two years before my ladder slid from under me. I used big rubber articulated feet, kept a sensible angle on ladder, used ladder mats on loose surfaces and gravel and was very careful. Thankfully I came off and landed in a big soft bush  :1f602:  I must have looked ridiculous! Was a bit winded so went home and looked into getting WFP. Saved up and switched to pole 4 or 5 mths later.

I still use ladders occasionally but it's only for access to balconies or sometimes gutter clear and hand scrubbing a particularly nasty first clean.

It's the constant day in day out use of ladders that makes you too familiar and complacent which is the most dangerous.

 
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Glad your ok. That description is pretty powerful! Good for everyone to read.
I'm glad your ok and it was a well written account, until the penultimate paragraph.

I honestly thought you were going to change over to WFP. 

The sad thing is one day you may make the change and wonder why you used ladders for so long. 

Respectfully consider the change now.

Although even poling I have fallen, those bloody small decorative walls and fish ponds aren't seen when looking up!

Minty

 
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