Occupational Protective Equipment
Ladder Climbing System

A ladder-climbing system is used in order to keep a worker's free fall to a minimum in case the worker's hand or foot slips off a ladder rung or foot peg while he is changing elevation to a new work position.

The worker depicted in the figure at right is utilizing a ladder-climbing system. The worker also has equipment necessary for personal Fall Arrest and personal positioning protection, which he will utilize once he reaches his work area. Each system has its own A-B-C components.

For the personal ladder climbing system, the (A) component is the vertical wire attached to the ladder and tower structure that serves as an anchorage for the cable grab device, the (B) component is the worker's ladder-climbing harness designed to distribute the forces over thighs, pelvis, waist, chest, and shoulders and equipped with a circle O-ring at the back for attaching a fall arrest connecting device and a frontal O-ring (not for fall-arrest) for attaching a ladder-climbing device, and the (C) component is the cable-grab with locking carabiner which is connected to the ladder. The maximum length of the connection between the center line of the anchorage cable and the frontal O-ring on the ladder climbing harness shall not exceed 9 inches.

When the worker reaches the work area, and before he unhooks his ladder-climbing system, he must hook up and utilize his personal Fall Arrest system. For the fall-arrest system, the (A) component will be the support structure, the (B) component will be the ladder-climbing harness with rear O-ring, and the (C) component will be the rope lanyard with attached deceleration unit.

Additionally, if the worker needs to work with both hands free when he reaches his work area, he must hook up and utilize his personal positioning system in addition to his personal fall-arrest system. For the positioning system, the (A) component will be the vertical support that serves as a positioning anchorage. The (B) component will be the ladder-climbing harness which is equipped with a O-ring at each side for attaching a positioning connecting device. The (C) component will be the positioning lanyard which is equipped with a locking snap-hook at each end.

It is important to note that a ladder-climbing system is designed to limit a worker's movement while climbing a ladder. The frontal O-ring is NOT designed to properly distribute the impact forces that result in arresting a fall from height. A ladder-climbing system cannot be relied upon to provide fall-arrest protection. When climbing fixed ladders, know and follow ANSI A 14.3 (Safety Requirement for Fixed Ladders).

NOTE: Klein ladder climbing harnesses provide a rear O-ring which must be used for fall-arrest protection and side O-rings for positioning.

The following linked pages show the full line of Klien Fall-Arrest and Positioning System components:

• Harnesses
• Connecting Devices