Ladder Stabilizers - Better Safe Than Sorry!

Statistics show that ladder related accidents are becoming a common happening. People forget or don’t think of using ladder stabilizers and end up in hospital sipping chicken soup through a straw. One wonders why people don’t think. I have witnessed an older lady positioning a ladder against a tree and climbing to the top to retrieve a kid’s kite. The ladder was placed in a muddy puddle and as I watched, from a close distance, I was sure that the woman doing the Tarzan act would soon truly be swinging from a vine. In fact when she was climbing back down, the ladder did move and I managed to support it before it slipped in the mud. It doesn’t matter if the ladder is a small stepladder of a roofing ladder, anchoring it both top and bottom with ladder stabilizers is the sensible thing to do.

There are an array of ladder stabilizers retailing at hardware stores and home centers in most cities and home handy men and women are advised to invest in one or two. The Werner Aluminum Extension Ladder Stabilizer is sold at the reasonable price of $35.00. This stabilizer easily attaches, without the use of tools, to most extension ladders - particularly roofing ladders. It is, of course, very important to have a roofing ladder stabilized. If a roof ladder was to fall while someone was climbing it – well let’s just say, it’s a long way down. This stabilizer could even be attached to a smaller ladder to prevent it from falling while you were pruning the hedge or picking apples.

Another of the most popular ladder stabilizers on the market today is the Basemate Professional Ladder Stabilizer.　This stabilizer is primarily used in the construction industry and has become a welcome addition to the equipment truck of many construction workers. Easy to connect and requiring no tools, this stabilizer offers the ladder a wide footprint which allows it to be placed on an uneven surface. The feet are also able to be adjusted to an “ice pick” feature which will support the weight to the ladder and the ladder-climber on a hardened or frozen surface. It is clear that both stabilizers mentioned are of high quality and have, no doubt, saved some people from some serious falls or accidents – although these people will never know it.

For those of you that use a ladder in your work or often around your home, make sure whenever you climb the runs that the ladder is anchored safely to the ground and in no danger of moving or slipping. If you’re not sure, place ladder stabilizers under the feet and on other parts of the ladder. No one wants to read the words “killed when he/she fell from a ladder”, on your tombstone.