The most commonly asked questions to me during my site visits revolve around ladder safety and regulations. I usually start with directing the person asking me the question to the green book, where they can find all the regulations for Ontario construction projects. The specific regulations referencing ladders can be found in Sections 78-84.
Reviewing these sections is a good start to understanding how to safely use ladders on the construction site. However, these sections do not go in depth in the safe use of ladders. Section 93 (3) states:
(3) All vehicles, machines, tools and equipment shall be used in accordance with any operating manuals issued by the manufacturers. O. Reg. 145/00, s. 25 (2).
What that means is the best place to learn about the safe work practices for each ladder is through the manual provided by the manufacturers. For example, if the ladder was made by Featherlite the best place to find the safe working practice for those ladders would be their manual which you can find here: https://featherliteladders.com/
A combination of the green book and the manufacturers manual will always provide the best insight into specific ladder safety and safe work practices.
