Over reaching or leaning far to one side when you re on the ladder could make you lose your balance and fall. Be careful when climbing, get help if you need it . Be safe, ask someone to hold the ladder while you climb. Stay in the center of the ladder as you climb, and always hold the side rails with both hands. Each year, more than 511,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms, doctors offices, clinics and other medical settings because they failed to use ladders safely.
Most injuries are cuts, bruises and fractured bones.
However, more than 300 people die a year from injuries related to ladders almost one death per day. Safe, AAOS, P.O. Box 1998, Des Plaines, Ill. 60017. An orthopaedic surgeon is a medical doctor with extensive training in the diagnosis and nonsurgical as well as surgical treatment of the musculoskeletal system including bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves.