Ladder safety tips are important. Any time you climb a ladder to check your roof, you are running the risk of injuring yourself. Climbing a ladder placed against the roof of your home can be dangerous, but there are some tips to help you safely climb the ladder. Even with these ladder safety tips, accidents can happen, so always have someone outside with you while you are climbing the ladder to check the roof of your home. Take a look at these 8 tips to safely climb a ladder.
Ladder Safety Tips: 8 Tips to Safely Climb a Ladder to Check Your Roof
#1 – Check the Ladder
Before you climb any ladder, you need to check and make sure everything is working properly. You need to make sure the ladder is sturdy and both legs are on the ground. Make sure all the steps on the ladder are intact. If your ladder seems to be shaky and not reliable, it’s probably a good idea to buy a new ladder before attempting to climb up to your roof.
#2 – Call a Friend or Family Member
Before you climb any ladder to check your roof, you need to call a friend or family member to come outside with you. You always need someone there with you in case something happens and you need them to call for help.
#3 – Have Someone Hold the Ladder for You
Another ladder safety tips you need to know is having someone hold the ladder for you. As you climb up the ladder, it may become shaky the higher you go. Make sure you have someone there to hold the ladder as you are climbing it. This will help sturdy the ladder and hopefully keep you from falling off the ladder.
#4 – Wear the Right Shoes
You also need to wear the right shoes when you are climbing a ladder to check your roof. Make sure the shoes you have on have rubber soles. Always make sure the shoes or boots you have on are dry. Wearing wet shoes or boots while climbing a ladder is very dangerous and could lead to you slipping off the ladder.
#5 – Stand Correctly on the Ladder
It is important that you stand correctly on the ladder. Once you reach the roof, you should have enough ladder above the roof to be able to step from the ladder to the roof without using the top two steps of the ladder. You don’t want to use the top two steps of the ladder to access your roof because that could cause the ladder to slip and you will fall.
#6 – Drying Your Ladder
Before you attempt to climb the ladder to check your roof, you need to make sure that the ladder is dry. If your ladder was left out in the rain or the morning dew has fallen on your ladder, you could be in for trouble. It is easy to slip and fall on a wet ladder, so before you climb the ladder, feel it to see if it feels wet or damp. If it does, simply lay it on the dry and wipe the entire ladder off with a dry towel.
#7 – Rubber Feet for the Ladder
Another safety tip is to install rubber on the ladder’s feet. If your ladder didn’t come with the rubber feet, you really need to visit somewhere like Home Depot and buy the rubber feet for your ladder. This will keep the ladder from slipping.
#8 – Only Carry What You Can Manage
Last but not least, only carry what you can manage. You need two hands when climbing a ladder, but I understand that sometimes you need to carry things up the ladder. But never carry so much that you don’t have at least one free hand to climb the ladder. If you have a lot of stuff to carry up the ladder, simply make more than one trip to be safe.
Take these ladder safety tips to heart because many people every year fall off of ladders and hurt themselves really bad. Some even die from their injuries. Always be safe when climbing a ladder and if you don’t feel good about climbing the ladder, call a professional roofing company in Michigan to come out and do it for you. For more information, resources and tips of roofing, take a look at all our posts right here on Michigan Roof Pros!
