The time a ladder setup went wrong on a site in Phoenix and nearly killed a guy

I was working on a job out in Phoenix last August and we had a crew setting up scaffolding for some exterior work on a three-story building. One of the guys, Dave, decided to use an old extension ladder that had a cracked rung instead of waiting for the proper gear. He was halfway up when the rung snapped and he dropped about 15 feet onto a concrete slab. He ended up with a broken wrist and some nasty bruises, but it could have been way worse. After that, our super made everyone check every ladder and scaffold piece before use, and now I do the same on every site I work. It takes an extra 10 minutes but I figure that's nothing compared to a hospital visit. Has anyone else had a close call like that on a job?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithf7711d agoMost Upvoted

OMG YES that ladder story gives me the chills, I had a rung break on me too but I landed on soft dirt thank GOD.

juliagonzalez11d ago

Oh man, my buddy slipped off the top rung of his extension ladder and caught himself on a window ledge with one hand... hung there for what felt like forever before someone heard him yelling.