Accident example 1
A maintenance fitter lost his footing on the second rung of a ladder. His feet slipped through the rungs and he was killed when his head hit the floor as he fell backwards.

Accident example 2
The supervisor of a team of shop fitters was concerned that the target date for completion of a project would be missed. On arriving on site to assess progress he became involved in helping to finish the job on time. He fell 2 m from an unsecured ladder after overreaching while trying to pull cabling through ductwork. He broke an ankle and a wrist in four places. The project was not completed to deadline.

Accident example 3
During refurbishment of a warehouse a contractor placed a ladder between two stands of a pallet racking so that the bottom of the ladder was resting against one rack - so that it would not slip - and the top was leaning on the other. The ladder, which was wooden, was at an angle of about 45 degrees. It broke under his weight and he fractured his skull.

Accident example 4
A window cleaner sustained broken ribs, fingers and a broken arm when he fell 2.3 m from his ladder while cleaning the windows of a show home on a new housing estate. The ladder was not secured or footed, the ground was dry but sloped gently away from the building. The construction company had not produced a method statement and the injured man had received no health and safety induction when he arrived on the site.

Accident example 5
An employee of a construction and building services company was replacing house windows. He was carrying some silicon sealant up the ladder for a new window and had reached a height of about 3 m when the bottom of the ladder slipped out and the employee fell, badly fracturing his leg. The accident investigation found that the ladder had been resting on grass that sloped gently away from the building. It had been raining. The ladder was not footed as the injured man's colleague had been inside the building at the time and the ladder was not tied or secured by any other means.