Ladder and Lift Daily Pre-Use Inspection for Gutters
Purpose
A ladder fails at the worst possible moment to discover it, with a technician's full weight on it fifteen or more feet up. Almost every ladder failure that reaches that point was visible on the ground first, in a cracked rail, a rung with play in it, or a rung lock that doesn't seat true, and almost every one was skipped because the crew was already running late for the first stop. This standard is the three to five minute check that happens before that, every day, on every ladder that goes on the truck.
Scope
Covers the daily, pre-first-use inspection of extension ladders and ladder stabilizers used for gutter cleaning, repair, and install access. It does not cover the roof-traverse rope and harness system used once a technician steps off the ladder onto a steep-pitch roof (Gutter Cleaning Safety on Steep Pitch Roofs owns that), the decision to use a mechanical aerial lift instead of a ladder or that lift's own daily inspection at a multi-story commercial site (Commercial Multi-Story Access and Fall Protection Standard owns that), or ladder setup angle and tie-off technique once the ladder is in position (also owned by the steep-pitch standard). This standard is the go or no-go check performed before the ladder is set against anything.
Roles and responsibilities
| Role | Owns | Hands off |
|---|---|---|
| Technician | Performs the inspection before first use each day, tags out any failed item | A logged pass, or a physically tagged-out ladder with the defect named |
| Crew lead | Spot-checks the log, substitutes equipment when something's tagged out | A working ladder before the crew's first job of the day, from the rack or from another truck |
| Shop | Maintains a condemned-ladder log and stocks spare feet, rope, and stabilizer hardware | Replacement equipment fast enough that a tagged-out ladder doesn't quietly stay in rotation because nothing else was available |
Procedure
Run a hand along both rails, full length, checking for cracks, dents, bends, or corrosion. On fiberglass, feel for delamination (exposed white fibers or a spider-crack pattern under the gel coat); on aluminum, feel for pitting or a bend that doesn't show from three feet away. Acceptance: no crack, delamination, bend, or pitting deeper than a light surface scratch, confirmed by touch, not just a glance. Wrong looks like a rail that reads fine standing up but has a hairline crack near a rung socket you'd only catch by feel. Stop rule: any crack, delamination, or bend of any degree removes the ladder from service immediately; there's no "still fine, just watch it" tier for a compromised rail. Hazard: a cracked rail fails without warning under load, typically at mid-span with a person's weight near the top, which is exactly why this check happens on the ground first.
Grip and twist or push every rung by hand, checking for play, cracking at the rung-to-rail joint, and a surface that's still slip-resistant. Don't skip rungs because they were fine last week. Acceptance: every rung fixed with no play, no crack at the joint, grooved or coated surface intact and not worn smooth or coated in dried sealant from the last job. Wrong looks like slight rotational play at one end of a rung, which is the joint starting to fail, not a cosmetic issue. Stop rule: any rung with play, cracking, or a worn-smooth surface removes the ladder from service. Hazard: a rung that lets go under foot load drops the foothold instantly with no warning, and a slick rung causes a slip a ladder ascent has no harness to catch.
Check that both feet pivot freely through their full range and show no missing material or embedded debris. Test each independently; a foot that binds on one side and swings free on the other is easy to miss testing them together. Acceptance: both feet pivot fully, rubber or composite pad intact with nothing missing, no packed dirt or gravel jamming the swivel. Wrong looks like a foot that grips unevenly, digging one corner in while the other rocks, which reads as an unexplained wobble once the ladder is standing that gets blamed on the ground instead of the equipment. Stop rule: a foot that doesn't pivot freely or is missing material gets replaced from stock before the ladder returns to service; a shim or a folded rag is not a field fix. Hazard: a compromised foot is the single most common contributor to a base kickout, and it can't be diagnosed once weight is on the ladder, only before.
Extend the ladder fully and confirm both rung locks engage the same rung simultaneously, then test the extension with a firm downward pull before it's climbed. Acceptance: both locks seated on the same rung, no fraying on the rope or cable, the extended section holds firm under a hard pull with no creep. Wrong looks like one lock catching a rung early because the rope has stretched unevenly; the ladder appears extended and locked, but one rail is actually unsupported at that rung, and it racks sideways the moment weight loads it. Stop rule: any lock mismatch, fraying, or creep under the test pull removes the ladder from service; don't hand-true the extension and call it fixed, the rope or pulley needs same-day service or a swap ladder. Hazard: a mismatched or slipping lock lets the extension shift or collapse mid-climb, which is a fall from whatever height the ladder had reached at that moment.
Read the duty-rating stamp and confirm it covers today's actual load: body weight, tool belt, and any material carried up. Acceptance: rating stamp legible and equal to or above the combined load. Wrong looks like assuming "it's the shop's ladder, it's fine" without reading the stamp, especially on an older or borrowed unit. Stop rule: an illegible or missing rating stamp means the ladder is treated as unrated and pulled from field service until confirmed against the manufacturer's records. Hazard: none new at this step, it's a documentation and capacity check performed on the ground.
Where a stabilizer or standoff is used, inspect its arms for cracks or bends and confirm both mounting clamps are torqued. Try to shift it by hand once it's clamped; it shouldn't move. Acceptance: no cracks or bends, clamps torqued so the standoff doesn't shift under hand pressure. Wrong looks like a clamp that "still holds" by friction alone, which walks loose under the ladder's own vibration during the job rather than failing the test on the ground. Stop rule: a standoff that shifts under hand pressure gets its hardware tightened or replaced before it goes up; a job that needs a stabilizer per the surface doesn't proceed without one that passes. Hazard: a standoff that fails mid-job puts the ladder rail directly against the gutter, which can crush the trough and simultaneously remove the top-end stability the standoff was providing.
Log the result: pass, or condemned with the specific defect, naming the ladder's asset tag. Acceptance: entry made before the ladder is loaded on the truck or used at the first job. Wrong looks like a verbal "ladders are good" to the crew lead with nothing written down, which leaves no record of when a defect was first caught if the same ladder gets condemned again later in the week. Stop rule: a condemned ladder gets a physical tag-out attached to the ladder itself, not just a log entry, so nobody on a later shift pulls it off the rack without reading the log first.
The record this produces
The daily log ties a pass or fail to a specific ladder's asset tag and date. A shop owner scanning a season of entries watches for the same asset tag condemning repeatedly, which points at a specific unit's age or a specific crew's handling, not at ladders generally. A tag-out with no matching replacement noted on that day's job log is a gap worth asking about directly.
Worked pass, with a step that failed
Monday morning, Ladder 4, a 28-foot Type IA fiberglass extension. Step 1: both rails checked full length by hand, no cracks or delamination. Step 2: every rung gripped and twisted, no play, no cracking, surfaces intact. Step 3: both feet tested independently, pivot free, no missing material.
Step 4: ladder extended fully. The passenger-side rail's lock caught the target rung; the driver-side lock caught one rung higher. The downward-pull test made this audible: the ladder racked before locking true. Fail. Stop rule taken: Ladder 4 removed from service on the spot, tagged out with "rung lock mismatch, rope service needed" noted, and Ladder 7 pulled from the rack as the day's substitute.
Ladder 7, steps 1 through 4 repeated clean. Step 5: rating stamp confirmed Type IA, covers the day's load. Step 6: the stabilizer, which travels between ladders rather than staying fixed to one, inspected separately; arms sound, clamps torqued and holding under hand pressure. Step 7: log entry records Ladder 4 condemned and referred to the shop, Ladder 7 logged as the day's ladder with a clean pass.
References
- See related: Gutter Cleaning Safety on Steep Pitch Roofs, for ladder setup angle, tie-off, and the rope-access system used once a technician leaves the ladder for the roof.
- See related: Commercial Multi-Story Access and Fall Protection Standard, for when the job calls for a lift instead of a ladder, and that equipment's own daily check.
- OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1053(b), which requires ladders to be inspected for visible defects periodically and after any event that could affect safe use, and a ladder found defective to be tagged and removed from service.
- ANSI A14.5, the portable reinforced plastic ladder standard covering duty ratings and construction, current edition as your shop's safety program references.