The American Ladder Institute Safety training features a robust library of videos regarding individual ladder types. The institute also enables you to create accounts and keep track of your team's progress - all at no cost.

Incorporate this training into your onboarding or in your weekly safety training to ensure that your crew knows best practices - and the right way to use the different types of ladders they'll come across on the job.

It might seem scary to reach out to OSHA, but On-Site Consultation Specialists are simply there to inform you and recommend best practices - they cannot issue fines or citations. 

And better than free, they can often recommend state funded solutions to improve your safety compliance around your warehouse, facility, or office. 

What does meeting with a specialist look like? They'll meet with you at your workplace, walk around, review your training and equipment, and make recommendations. That's it. Totally free.

Depending on your state, you may need to reach out to your OSHA state equivalent to schedule a consultation with a specialist. The link above will help direct you to the right resource.

Tip: Do this on a yearly basis and record when you met with the officer, and write down what they recommended and what steps you took to meet their recommendations. In the event of an employee accident or death, this will help prove you took safety seriously - well before it became a legal issue.

Similar to the training from the ALI, Werner safety training also surrounds ladders. The difference? You can watch Spanish language versions of this training.

Unlike the ALI, there is no individual login or account setup. Less of a barrier to entry, but that does mean your progress isn't automatically tracked. 

For Spanish-speaking employees, this should be your go-to resource for ladder safety training. For everyone else, this is probably best used as supplementary material in ongoing training.

Rain Gutter Association toolbox talks are short talks surrounding issues gutter crews face on the job. Each toolbox talk features a quote or story from a real-life gutter company owner who saw an employee get hurt or killed on the job.

In one instance, we interviewed an owner who saw two relatives get killed because their ladder touched an electrified run of fascia by a window. Another story involves an employee whose problems with drugs and alcohol eventually led to a string of robberies at liquor stores and gas stations. Thankfully, it happened after the employee had been let go.

We have three free toolbox talks available for download in the link above. Download them, print them off, and deliver the talk in front of your gutter crew before they start the day. Each talk comes with a form for attendees to sign, documenting they attended the training. This helps prove you have an active safety program in place, an OSHA requirement.

RGA members receive a library of 57 toolbox talks. Become a member to access the full library (divided into six series, each being unlocked once a month). It's one of many, many benefits to being an association member.