Maintaining your ministry may require you to climb on ladders for many things, including hanging up decorations, cleaning gutters, painting, etc. It’s important that you maintain good ladder safety to help prevent someone being injured if an accident occurs. So, we’ve compiled six great tips for ladder safety.
Six tips for ladder safety
1. Maintain three points of contact when climbing/descending a ladder
While on a ladder, it’s important to maintain safe contact with it. Make sure you always have two hands and a foot, or two feet, and a hand on the ladder at all times.
2. Face the ladder when climbing up or descending.
When moving up and down the ladder, make sure that you’re facing it so that you don’t lose your grip, get distracted, or slip.
3. Keep your body inside the side rails.
In addition to maintaining safe contact with the ladder, you need to make sure that you keep your balance while on the ladder, as well. By staying within the side rails, you help ensure that you stay balanced while on the ladder.
4. Use extra care when getting on or off the ladder at the top or bottom.
When stepping onto or off of the ladder, avoid tipping it over or causing it to slide out.
5. Carry tools in a tool belt or use a hand line to raise tools to the roof.
When climbing up and down a ladder, it may be tempting to save time by trying to carry tools up and down with your hands. Doing this increases the chance of an accident, so make sure you never carry tools in your hands while climbing up/down a ladder.
6. Keep ladders free of any slippery materials.
When placing your ladder against a wall or roof, be sure there are no slippery materials anywhere. Wet floors or smooth walls make it easier for ladders to slip out.
When you are covered by UMIP, we will be there when you need us. Churches have unique needs. As a part of the denomination, we understand the unique needs of United Methodist churches and their operations, which is reflected in our coverage options. Your ministry deserves outstanding insurance and UMIP works for you each day to help protect your church’s people, property, and finances.
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This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states.
The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.
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