Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Tricam Fiberglass Ladder Spreader Bar Failure

Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) Product Failure Injury Report

Product involved: Tricam Fiberglass Ladder
What happened: A person was injured when a spreader bar of his Tricam ladder failed,  causing the ladder to collapse
Injuries: Unknown
Recommendations: Stepladder spreader bar failure is not as common as other ladder accident failure modes.  Without spreader bars, a stepladder is highly unstable and likely to collapse or tip.  Normally spreader bar failures are due to a manufacturing or material defect, but can also be due to a design problem as well.  A rigid plate spreader would have prevented the extreme instability resulting from the failure of one spreader bar connection.

OSHA/Standard violations?: No

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