Yellow Safety Ladders Make Workplace Priorities Clear

Yellow registers as the brightest color the human eye sees. Also, when it’s dark out, people can see yellow the most easily at a distance. If you consider a third factor, it is extremely rare for colorblindness to affect our ability to see yellow, you can see why that color is used to convey safety warnings.

In fact, Pantone, the New Jersey company that operates a universal color matching system, has identified a color as “Safety Yellow.” Krylon sells a spray paint that it calls “Safety Yellow.” The color says, “Watch your step!”

OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, recommends the use of what it calls safety colors: red, yellow, orange and fluorescent orange.

• Red, for danger. Signifies fire hazards and indicates the need to “stop.”
• Yellow, for caution. It marks physical safety hazards such as: “Striking against, stumbling, falling, tripping, and ’caught in between.’”
• Orange, for warning. It alerts people to a moderate risk.
• Fluorescent orange, for biological hazards.

ANSI, the American National Standards Institute, has a similar safety color system.

Tri-Arc offers three products in its line of Safety Yellow Ladders.

Mobile steel work platforms

These sturdy work platforms can be rolled around your warehouse or plant to give workers easy access to out-of-reach areas. They come with or without handrails. The height of the platform ranges from 20 inches to 50 inches. Other features include:

• 800 lb. rated capacity
• Grip Strut, a non-slip construction, treads and platform
• Ships all-welded
• 50 degree safety angle incline, which makes it easier to climb and descend
• Tubular steel construction

Safety angle rolling ladders

On these high-climbing mobile ladders, the platform can reach from 30 inches to 13 feet, 4 inches, in height. The backs and bottom frames are reinforced steel. Other features include:

• 17-inch-deep top platform
• 50 degree safety angle incline
• 450 lb. rated capacity
• Perforated or Grip Strut treads and platform
• Tubular steel rails and handrails

Fixed steel ladders

Tri-Arc’s fixed steel ladders are all about stability, but they do come with options. You can choose with or without ladder cages, and also choose to add cage doors and guard doors. These fixed models range in height from 10 feet to 29 feet. Here are some other options:

• Side rails made from 2-1/2″ x 3/8″ flat bar
• Solid round three-quarter inch rungs
• 12 inch spacing between rungs
• 18 inch ladder width
• 42 inch guardrails on walk-through models

Of course, every product in this category goes through a special powder coating process to receive its distinctive color.

Powder coating involves spraying a dry powder, instead of wet paint, onto an object and then baking it in high heat to make the powder melt into a thick coating and achieve a high gloss.

It provides a more durable finish than liquid paint, making the objects more resistant to moisture, chemicals, ultraviolet light, extreme weather conditions, scratches, chipping and corrosion. This is especially important for exterior use.

Tri-Arc powder coats its products in its Pittsburgh plant.

First, it hangs the parts in a line, allowing just enough room to balance efficiency and quality.

The parts go through a three-stage iron phosphate wash and rinse for at least 10 minutes to remove surface rust and oil. That deters corrosion and helps the powder stick to the metal.

High-power blowers and air guns are used to remove any water. Then, the line heads through a dry-off oven, where the product bakes at 330 degrees for eight minutes.

Products and parts cool as they travel down to paint booths, where they are electrostatically coated with six automatic and two manual powder spray guns. The conveyor gives the parts a positive charge and the powder is given a negative charge, which makes them cling together for a complete, even coating.

Finally, the products are sent to the bake ovens again for another 15 minutes to cure at 400 degrees, which produces a hard, enamel-like gloss.

In this case, a safety yellow coating.

Well, we know what color the ladder would be. However, ladder safety begins with determining the purpose and the location for its use.

You must have the right ladder for the job. Four essential factors stand out:

• Style. Do you need a step stool or a step ladder, a fixed ladder or a portable ladder, an extension ladder or a folding ladder? Your task and the environment in which you will be working – outdoors, near electricity, indoors – will inform your final choice. Do you need a permanent solution for getting onto a roof? Do workers need a way to step up to a high shelf to stock merchandise? Of course, in any work environments the use and the equipment must comply with OSHA ladder safety standards.
• Ladder height. How high must a worker be able to reach when using the ladder safely? Or, what does the platform height need to be? Will workers need fall protection equipment? Keep in mind that the high the ladder goes, the wider the base must be.
• Performance/duty rating or weight limit. To calculate this, you must include the user’s weight, clothing and any tools or materials he or she might use. Each rung, step or cleat must support that weight.
• Material. Most ladders are made from steel, aluminum, fiberglass or wood. Each material has different characteristics. Fiberglass ladders, for example, are electrically non-conductive and offer good value and strength. Wooden ladders are economical and electrically non-conductive. Aluminum and steel ladders are more common in commercial and industrial settings. The tradeoffs pivot on weight and strength. Also, look for rubber feet or some other anti-slip treatment for the feet.