Haphazard Ladder Climbing Puts Handymen In Danger

Men in their 50s are the most likely to fall off ladders in the home, causing injury and death, a new study says.

The research, presented at a medical conference in Hong Kong, said pelvic and limb injuries were most common, but some men suffered more serious head and chest fractures.

"This group was your typical victim of a ladder fall," said Dr Elaine Liew, a surgical registrar at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.

"And the bad news is that the rates of serious injury and death were high, regardless of how far they've actually fallen."

The study, Australia's largest of ladder falls, says home handymen are putting themselves in grave danger with "haphazard" use of ladders on the wrong angles and on uneven ground.

Dr Liew and her colleagues tracked admissions caused by ladder falls from 2002 to 2007 to get the first full picture of who is most at risk and the severity of their injuries.

The results show that of the 305 admissions, 88 percent involved men, with an average age of 58, and 90 percent occurred in the home.

Almost one in 10 patients died from their injuries, all domestic incidents involving older men.

"The problem is that there are lots of occupational health and safety standards in the workplace but no real education in the community," Dr Liew said.

"You've got all these people going about their work at home alone, on uneven ground, with no attention to the basic rules of ladder use."

The hospital plans to launch a Victorian-based education program be run in conjunction with father's day, but said other states also need to take up the cause.