By: Terri Jo Umlor, Vice President
Work place injuries and disabilities create an enormous emotional burden on families and a financial dependance on our economy. The ripple can be felt through many generations of families.
When a construction worker who is the head of the household is seriously injured or killed, there is a tremendous burden placed upon the entire community. On average 400 people die each year and 135,000 people are injured as a result from scaffolding and ladder-related injuries. Even if only 1% of those injured people become disabled that would equate to roughly 54 Million dollars of subsistence needed compounding each year to support the injured worker and their family. The portable ladder is the most dangerous construction tool – 34% of all deaths on construction sites were from falls!
It is generally assumed and accepted that construction workers and industrial employees have accidents, get hurt and die. Why do we accept this? We expend time, money and conversation making cookies for homeless people, and worrying over the plight of our local humane society, while mindlessly accepting that our next door neighbor, a construction worker, may become disabled or die the following day at work. As an owner of a commercial roofing and fall prevention company, I challenge business owners everywhere to honor yours tradespeople – embrace ladder safety – give it a “MAN HUG”. The Springfield patent pending LadderAnchor is a lifesaving tool that is easy to install and inexpensive to buy.
Construction workers are at the heart of the American dream – getting up every day, going to the jobsite, working long hard hours, providing for their families. Where would our industrial nation be without them? It’s time for construction company owners everywhere to get involved and help change the mindset about safe roof access. Let’s honor our tradesmen and women. When a construction worker is viewed as someone worthy of all efforts to keep safe – we will have made our goal
When we have made our goal with our patent pending LadderAnchor — the 400 people that statistically die each year in fall related accidents will be returning home after work to their families; 135,000 fall related accidents per year will have been prevented; the workers that would have been seriously affected by death or injuries will be able to continue to support their families; the economy will not burdened with the estimated 54Million dollars of subsistence compounding each year to support injured/disabled workers and OSHA will no longer site falls from ladders as a leading cause of injury & death in construction.

