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Alberta Legislation

Alberta Ladder Safety

This material has been extracted from the Acts and Regulations of the Province to help students understand the subject. It is not an official source of information and must not be used for any other purpose.
© 1995 - 2010 Government of Alberta

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE 2009
Adoption of standards 3 The following are adopted for the purposes of this Code: ANSI Standards
A14.1-2007, American National Standard for Ladders — Wood — Safety Requirements A14.2-2007, American National Standard for Ladders — Portable Metal — Safety Requirements A14.5-2007, American National Standard for Ladders — Portable Reinforced Plastic — Safety Requirements
CSA Standards CAN3-Z11-M81 (R2005), Portable Ladders
PIP Standard STF05501 (February 2002), Fixed Ladders and Cages, published by the Construction Industry Institute

Definitions 1 In this Code,
“fixed ladder” means a ladder that is permanently fixed to a supporting structure in a vertical position or at an angle of not more than 15 degrees from vertical and that does not lean back;
“ladderjack scaffold” means a scaffold erected by attaching a bracket to a ladder to support the scaffold planks;
“portable ladder” means any ladder that is not a fixed ladder;
Part 8 Entrances, Walkways, Stairways and Ladders
Entrances, Walkways, Stairways
Ladders — General Restriction on use 124 An employer must ensure that workers do not use a ladder to enter or leave an elevated or sub-level work area if the area has another safe and recognizable way to enter or leave it. Prohibition on single rail 125 A person must not make a ladder by fastening cleats across a single rail or post.
Prohibition on painting 126(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not paint a wooden ladder. 126(2) A wooden ladder may be preserved with a transparent protective coating.
Use near energized electrical equipment 127 An employer must ensure that a ladder used during the servicing of energized or potentially energized electrical equipment is made of nonconductive material.

Ladders on extending booms 128(1) An employer must ensure that
(a) if a ladder is a permanent part of an extending boom on powered mobile equipment, no worker is on the ladder during the articulation, extension or retraction of the boom, and
(b) if outriggers are incorporated in the equipment to provide stability, no worker climbs the ladder until the outriggers are deployed. 128(2) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply to professional fire fighters working on fire fighting equipment.

Crawl Board or Roof Ladder
Safe use 129 An employer must ensure that a crawl board or roof ladder used for roof work
(a) is securely fastened by hooking the board or ladder over the ridge of the roof or by another equally effective means, and
(b) is not supported by an eaves trough.
Fixed Ladders Design criteria 130(1) An employer must ensure that a fixed ladder installed on or after April 30, 2004 meets the requirements of PIP Standard STF05501 (February 2002), Fixed Ladders and Cages, published by the Construction Industry Institute. 130(2) Despite the standards referenced in PIP Standard STF05501, an employer may
(a) use applicable Canadian material and process standards if the employer ensures that the fixed ladder is designed and installed in accordance with established engineering principles, and
(b) allow the inside diameter of a cage hoop to be as great as 760

millimetres. 130(3) If a fixed ladder is made of a material other than steel, the employer must ensure that the design is certified by a professional engineer as being as strong as or stronger than that required by PIP Standard STF05501. 130(4) The employer must ensure that a self-closing double bar safety gate, or equally effective barrier, is provided at ladderway floor openings and platforms of fixed ladders installed on or after April 30, 2004. 130(5) Subsection (4) does not apply at landings. 130(6) Section 327 applies to an access ladder attached to a scaffold. Fixed ladders in manholes 131 Despite section 130, fixed ladders used in pre-cast reinforced concrete manhole sections installed on or after July1, 2009 must meet the requirements of ASTM Standard C478-07, Standard Specification for Reinforced Concrete Manhole Sections.
Rest platform exemption 132 If each worker working on a drilling rig or service rig on a fixed ladder is equipped with and wears a climb assist device that complies with the manufacturer’s specifications or specifications certified by a professional engineer, an employer is not required to
(a) provide the ladder with rest platforms, or
(b) have the side rails extend not less than 1050 millimetres above the point at which the workers get on or off.
Portable Ladders Prohibition 133(1) A worker must not perform work from either of the top two rungs, steps or cleats of a portable ladder unless the manufacturer’s specifications allow the worker to do so. 133(2) Despite subsection (1), a worker may work from either of the top two rungs, steps or treads of a stepladder,
(a) if the stepladder has a railed platform at the top, or
(b) if the manufacturer’s specifications for the stepladder permit it. Constructed portable ladder 134(1) An employer must ensure that a constructed portable ladder
(a) is constructed of lumber that is free of loose knots or knot holes,
(b) with a length of 5 metres or less has side rails constructed of lumber measuring not less than 38 millimetres by 89 millimetres,
(c) more than 5 metres long has side rails constructed of lumber measuring not less than 38 millimetres by 140 millimetres,
(d) has side rails that are not notched, dapped, tapered or spliced,
(e) has side rails at least 500 millimetres apart at the bottom, and
(f) has rungs that are
(i) constructed of lumber measuring not less than 21 millimetres by 89 millimetres,
(ii) held by filler blocks or secured by a single continuous wire, and

(iii) uniformly spaced at a centre to centre distance of 250 millimetres to 300 millimetres. 134(2) An employer must ensure that a two-way constructed portable ladder that is wide enough to permit traffic in both directions at the same time,
(a) has a centre structural rail along the length of the ladder,
(b) is at least one metre wide, and
(c) is constructed of materials that are substantial enough in size to accommodate the maximum intended load.
Manufactured portable ladder 135 An employer must ensure that a portable ladder manufactured on or after July1, 2009 meets the requirements of
(a) CSA Standard CAN3-Z11-M81 (R2005), Portable Ladders,
(b) ANSI Standard A14.1-2007, American National Standard for Ladders — Wood — Safety Requirements,
(c) ANSI Standard A14.2-2007, American National Standard for Ladders — Portable Metal — Safety Requirements, or
(d) ANSI Standard A14.5-2007, American National Standard for Ladders — Portable Reinforced Plastic — Safety Requirements.

Securing and positioning 136 A worker must ensure that
(a) a portable ladder is secured against movement and placed on a base that is stable,
(b) the base of an inclined portable ladder is no further from the base of the wall or structure than one-quarter of the distance between the base of the ladder and the place where the ladder contacts the wall, and
(c) the side rails of a portable ladder extend at least 1 metre above a platform, landing or parapet if the ladder is used as a means of access to the platform, landing or parapet.
Fall protection 137(1) An employer must ensure that a worker working from a portable ladder from which the worker may fall 3 metres or more uses a personal fall arrest system. 137(2) Subsection (1) does not apply while the worker is moving up or down the portable ladder. 137(3) Despite subsection (1), if it is not reasonably practical to use a personal fall arrest system, a worker may work from a portable ladder without fall protection if
(a) the work is a light duty task of short duration at each location,
(b) the worker’s centre of balance is at the centre of the ladder at all times even with an arm extended beyond the side rails of the ladder, and
(c) the worker maintains three-point contact whenever the worker extends an arm beyond a side rail.
Fixed ladders and climbable structures 154(1) An employer must ensure that if a worker is working from or on a fixed ladder or climbable structure at a height of 3 metres or more and is not protected by a guardrail, continuous protection from falling is provided by
(a) equipping the fixed ladder or climbable structure with an integral fall protection system that meets the requirements of
(i) CSA Standard Z259.2.1-98 (R2004), Fall Arresters, Vertical Lifelines, and Rails, or
(ii) ANSI/ASSE Standard Z359.1-2007, Safety requirements for personal fall arrest systems, subsystems and components, or
(b) an alternate fall protection system. 154(2) Subsection (1) applies to fixed ladders and climbable structures constructed and installed after July1, 2009.

Part 23 Scaffolds and Temporary Work Platforms
Vertical ladder on scaffold 327(1) An employer must ensure that a vertical ladder that gives access to a working level of a scaffold is used by a worker only to move up or down between levels of the scaffold. 327(2) Workers moving between levels of a scaffold on a vertical ladder
(a) must not extend a part of their body, other than an arm, beyond the side rails of the ladder, and
(b) must maintain a three-point stance on the ladder at all times. 327(3) The employer must ensure that a ladder attached to a scaffold and providing access to a working level of a scaffold
(a) is securely fastened to the scaffold,
(b) does not lean away from the scaffold,
(c) extends at least 1 metre above the uppermost working level of the scaffold,
(d) has rungs that are uniformly spaced at a centre-to-centre distance of 250 millimetres to 305 millimetres,
(e) has a maximum unbroken length of 9.1 metres measured from the ground or between working levels, and
(f) is equipped with a ladder cage that begins within 2.4 metres of the ground or working level if the ladder is more than 6.1 metres in height. 327(4) The employer must ensure that the ladder cage required by subsection (3)(f) is
(a) circular with an inside diameter that measures no more than 760 millimetres, or
(b) square with inside dimensions that measure no more than 760 millimetres by 760 millimetres. 327(5) Despite subsections (3)(e) and (3)(f), the ladder may have a maximum unbroken length of more than 9.1 metres and does not require a ladder cage if a fall protection system complying with Part 9 is used.

Working from a ladder 328(1) An employer must ensure that no worker performs work from a ladder that is used to give access to the working levels of a scaffold. 328(2) A worker must not perform work from a ladder that is used to give access to the working levels of a scaffold.
Ladderjack scaffolds 336(1) An employer must ensure that ladders used for ladderjack scaffolds are
(a) erected in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications, or
(b) if there are no manufacturer’s specifications, are not more than 3 metres apart. 336(2) An employer must ensure that brackets in a ladderjack scaffold are designed to
(a) be supported by the side rails of the ladder, or
(b) have at least 90 millimetres of width resting on the ladder rung. 336(3) An employer must ensure that a ladderjack scaffold is not more than 5 metres high. 336(4) An employer must ensure that there are not more than two workers at a time on a ladderjack scaffold. 336(5) Despite sections 329 and 330, an employer may use a single commercially manufactured extendable painter’s plank or a commercially manufactured aluminum or laminated plank on a ladderjack scaffold.

347(5) An employer must ensure that a telescopic aerial device, aerial ladder, articulating aerial device, vertical tower, material-lifting aerial device or a combination of any of them, when mounted on a motor vehicle, whether operated manually or using power, meets the requirements of CSA Standard CAN/CSA-C225-00 (R2005), Vehicle-Mounted Aerial Devices.