Occupational Safety and Health Administration Logs

Does anyone know if this story is true?

The other day I was talking to a stonemason and a roofer who were asked to do a job for a certain institution in New Hampshire. They were obliged to attend "ladder school," even though both have been working at the tops of high ladders for over 40 years. The gentleman for the OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) cautioned them against mocking his transparent waste of their time: Under the new administration, he explained, his bureaucracy would be adopting a more enforcement-oriented approach to private business. So they rolled their eyes merely metaphorically and consented to give up a working day because the federal government had taken the right to credentialize ladder-climbing form Maine to Hawaii. My professor brought this story up in class and asked us to find out if it was true or not. It could have easily been fabricated, but I want to know if anyone has heard of an actual event that took place. If anyone can find anything, please put a link to it in the answer.

Public Comments

1. Try www.snopes.com. They're good at debunking or affirming these kinds of stories.
2. Sounds like people again are acting like Obama is God. He did do some stuff when he was in the Senate to protect homeowner's. This stuff takes time though so I dought this is true. I would call the OSHA office to get the answer. My son got his home improvement lisence a few years ago & it was something that only few people could do. He has a lot going for him but I thought it was so strict it was unfair to a poor person. I played the secretary role at one point & when I made a call about something they lady on the other end explained the rules were very strick to protect the homeowner from getting ripped off....I don't think the admiinistration has anything to do with these OSHA rules but only they can tell you...I found out that despiite the republcans saying Obama didn't do anything & he had no experiece that he had done a lot of good work to protect good people. My son has never had to take any lisence class or whatevery they are talking about but you have to check to get the right info. So just call or e-mailing them might be easier.
3. I looked through the OSHA site and could not find anything on required ladder certification training. Sounds false to me Perhaps a company would require training to have it's employees understand OSHA requirements (there are standards for ladder safety on the OSHA site) but there is no training that I can find on the site. There is an OSHA Training Institute that companies can use for training but nothing is required and there is not a specific ladder course that I can find http://www.osha.gov/dte/oti/index.html
4. It sounds like pure BS. OSHA exists to protect workers, not homeowners.
5. Don't know about OSHA requiring "ladder training" however OSHA does have a lot of requirements dealing with ladder safety. Some companies are producing training docs/videos to assist employees with complying with OSHA ladder safety requirements.
6. According to http://www.osha-safety-training.net/LAD/ladder.html, yes ladder safety training is a requirement. Below is an insert from that website. Ladder Safety #09-022 (2009) 29 CFR 1910.25 - 1910.27 1910.25(a) "Application of requirements." This section is intended to prescribe rules and establish minimum requirements for the construction, care, and use of the common types of portable wood ladders, in order to insure safety under normal conditions of usage. Other types of special ladders, fruitpicker's ladders, combination step and extension ladders, stockroom step ladders, aisle-way step ladders, shelf ladders, and library ladders are not specifically covered by this section.