U.K. Ladder Association names biggest “ladder idiot”

The Ladder Association, the U.K.-based trade body responsible for advancing safety and best practice in the ladder industry, started a competition on Sept. 1, 2012, to raise awareness of unsafe ladder practices. The association asked the public to submit photos that showed the most dangerous use of ladders.

Images were posted on Facebook with users being given the chance to vote on the most dangerous photo.

A total of 38 photos were received from around the world with the winning photo (attached to this story) receiving 30 per cent of the vote.

The Ladder Association offered this description of the winning photo:

“The clear winner, with over 30 per cent of the vote, showed a worker reaching up to the top of a chimney with a gaping fall directly below him. Not only could the fall have killed him, but one commenter pointed out that his ladder still did not reach high enough to keep him from stretching upwards. To top the situation off, he also had a bucket wedged between the ladder and the wall it was resting against. The Ladder Association is now looking into the background of the picture in an attempt to identify the man and offer him the training he obviously needs, assuming he has survived to benefit from it.”

The complete “Idiots on Ladders” album can be found on the Ladder Association Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/ladderassociation