OSHA Compliant Fixed Ladders

Climbing ladders can be frightening, even terrifying for some employees. For others, climbing ladders can be a part of the job that becomes common place, which can cause complacency. Ladders are an existing part of every structure or building and should be a serious concern for safety conscious employers. Whether your employees are used to scaling ladders or not, they are going to be a vital part of your business, providing access and mobility around your facility.

Ladders are an existing part of every structure or building and should be a serious concern for safety-conscious employers. As falling is a common workplace injury, steps need to be taken by every business to ensure that their employees are safe at work. This starts with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) compliance, with your business following the rules attached to the construction of ladders.

OSHA Ladder Fall Protection

Most buildings have fixed ladders leading to various locations throughout. The majority of these ladders are constructed of steel and range from just a few feet, up to 30 feet in height. Any ladder of this size needs a comprehensive fall protection system in place, ensuring that your employee stays safe even if they do slip while climbing.

You’ll find the even smaller ladders need to comply with fixed ladder standards and regulations, with OSHA inspections that are failed leading to disastrous consequences to your business. Alongside fines of up to $10,000 for a failed inspection, business owners can be jailed for up to six months for not complying with safety decrees.

Additionally, if this is not a business owner’s first time failing an OSHA inspection, they can be fined up to $20,000 and sent to prison for up to a year. Alongside protecting your employees, you’ll be protecting yourself when you invest in OSHA compliance.

The most common ways of ensuring that you have adequate fall protection systems are installing fixed ladder cages and fall arrest systems. These safety precautions need to be applied to any new ladders constructed, as well as existing fixed ladders that are already in your facility when you purchase the building.

osha fixed ladder requirements

What are the OSHA Fixed Ladder Requirements?

There are specific guidelines for the construction of fixed steel ladders. The purpose of these fixed ladder regulations is to keep employees safe within the workplace. Not only will you be ensuring that your team has a fall arrest system to protect them, but this will also help your business avoid any workplace lawsuits for lack of safety features.

The main OSHA fixed ladder requirements that you need to look out for are:

• Any ladders above 6.1m must have either an OSHA ladder cage or OSHA ladder fall protection device.
• OSHA fixed ladders will all be able to support a load of 100 pounds per square foot and will come with guardrails. 
• An OSHA compliant fixed ladder will have smooth inner surfaces
• Fixed ladder fall protection additions must be installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Always provide a guard rail, regardless of ladder height, if the ladder is close to dangerous equipment.

A full review of these features can be found in Cal/OSHA §3277. Although these regulations are widely available, due to their complex nature, more often than not, they are not accurately followed. 

What Do Fixed Ladders Need To Pass Fixed Ladder Regulations?

One of the most important elements that you need to add to your ladders if they are over 20 feet in height is an OSHA ladder cage. Safety ladders with cages provide a support system, protecting those that slip and fall backward. Due to the height, anything that is significantly off the ground must have a ladder cage or another form of fall arrest system.

Commonly, to provide a comprehensive level of occupational safety, a workplace will install an OSHA compliant fall protection system that ensures employees are as safe as can be when scaling a ladder. Considering that falls are one of the most common causes of workplace injury, protecting your employees should be of vital importance.

While a ladder cage is recommended for the majority of ladders, a comprehensive ladder fall arrest safety system may be enough in some cases. It’s always best to consult the OSHA fixed ladder requirements closely. Keep in mind that ladder safety systems require user equipment and employee fall protection training.

osha ladder cage

How Does Versatile Systems Ensure OSHA Ladder Fall Protection On All Devices?

Versatile Systems specializes in the installation of Versatile Ladder Safety Systems and in the custom fabrication and installation of OSHA Compliant Versatile Fixed Steel Ladders, Cages, and Landings. No matter which safety element you’re looking to install, we will be able to provide an OSHA compliant and secure solution for your business.

With Versatile Systems ladder safety devices and OSHA Compliant ladders, the employer minimizes the risk from this everyday fall exposure, helping to protect their business and the employees working for them. Having OSHA Compliant ladders is an important step in the process of protecting employees from dangerous elevated work environments. Ladders should not be overlooked when assessing risk and providing safer work conditions for your employees.

Our safety ladders with cages will all come with updated OSHA compliance, including aspects like:

• Quality Materials and Steel – To ensure continued support to your employees when climbing, we use only the finest materials.

• Maximum Load Bearing – With impressive weight capacities, all of our ladders completely surpass the minimum amounts suggested by OSHA.

• Comfort and Secure – Our ladders comply with every aspect degreed by OSHA, including the ladders’ formation, with smooth bars and correctly spaced bar intervals giving you the perfect ladder solution.

• Cages and Fixed Ladder Fall Protection – No matter what form of protection you need to install on your ladder, our occupational safety engineers will have the perfect solution for you.

All of our team is well versed in OSHA occupational safety, ensuring that you’ll be able to get the best quality support when kitting out your facilities with the ladders you need to help your business run effectively.

osha fixed ladder

Versatile Systems, Inc. is now a distributor of a wide variety of Ladders and Ladder Safety Products. Call us toll-free at (855)837-3255 to discuss your fall protection needs or fill out the form on the contact page and we will contact you ASAP: