Always follow safety guidelines (safety first)

[kentucky strong]

Im not preaching to anyone, but if reminding everyone to follow safety guidelines when you're working on your f6b, or working around the house saves you from an accident, then its worth posting . I think a lot of bike owners are also the type that are pretty hands on with most aspects of their lives. Kind of the philosophy of "if I can do it, then why would I pay someone else to do it" Although, as I get older the paying someone to do it becomes more appealing.
I have been working on a project on my house for the last few months and got a little careless with safety. I can only blame myself. I got in a hurry to get the job done, and could have taken two minutes to anchor my ladder properly and I would not be writing this. I would post pictures, but they're too gory to post. I ended up in the emergency room with a seven inch gaping wound staring at the bone and muscles below the skin. To say the least my project is now on hold for a few week, so I did not save anytime in the long run. The end result could have been a lot worse, so I was lucky that I only ended up with the injuries that I have.
Anyway............Keep safety in mind first..........This was my eye opener and maybe this post will be a reminder for someone else when they are involved in a home or work project. I just learn things the hard way sometimes.

[GNW]

Been there and done that !!!
It's always good to be reminded !!

[Hornblower]

Sorry to hear about your ladder accident and hope you will recover fully. Over the years, I've had several friends who have had ladder accidents and they were all bad. You don't have to fall very far at all to get seriously hurt. I was doing my annual gutter-cleaning chores yesterday and was being amost paranoid about the ladder. Fortunately, I was very careful and all went well :icon_biggrin:.

[Exbmwrider]

Good to hear you're ok. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. My philosophy is "Screw it...I'm paying someone to do it so I can go riding!". Hasn't failed me yet.

[Steve 0080]

Yep...a ladder is not your friend!!! same with most power equipment as well..if it can hurt you it will!!!!!

[darcym]

My job is as a workplace safety and health inspector (OSHA, if you've heard of us, you know). Anyway, we used to have an unwritten rule that if a body falls less than ten feet it's not so likely that it's going to result in a serious injury. We couldn't have been more Wrong. I put together some of my own statistics from investigating falls, and found that the height didn't really matter so much. The surface plays a big part too. What was unquantifiable in terms of the severity of the injury was how the body fell. I personally think that you can fall from a shorter height and get hurt worse because you have less time in the air to adjust yourself - get your hands up, brace for impact, protect your head, etc. It also matters what you land on - dirt is more forgiving than concrete, etc. So a steel worker falls 25 feet from a block wall, lands in dirt and sprains his ankle. But a stock boy falls five feet head first onto a concrete floor and dies.

My statistics proved the truths, and since then I've had to investigate several fatal and serious accidents where folks have fallen from a ladder less than six feet. Smack your head hard enough on a hard surface, and that's all it takes. (why I wear a helmet when riding ...)

But ladders are great tools, when like all things, used correctly. We are human though, and all too often we rationalize ("this will only take a second"), or get sloppy or never learned the right way in the first place. I personally have just finished about two years worth of remodeling on my house, and spent a lot of time on a ladder as well. I was well aware that a moment's distraction could have put me in the hospital as well. Or worse. I also know from that experience how complacent someone who uses ladders for work everyday can get, and I hope that I will always remember that I cannot fly.

Kentucky Strong - I sure hope you heal up well and quickly.