Effects of upper body strength, hand placement and foot placement on ladder fall severity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A plurality of fatal falls to lower levels involve ladders. After a slip/misstep on a ladder, climbers use their upper and lower limbs to reestablish contact with the ladder.

Research question

This study investigates the impact of upper body strength, hand placement and foot placement on fall severity after a ladder climbing perturbation.

Methods

Participants performed upper body strength tests (breakaway and grip strength) and climbed a vertical, fixed ladder while a misstep perturbation was applied under the foot. After the perturbation, three hand placement and two foot placement responses were generally observed. Common hand placement responses included the hand moving two rungs, one rung, or did not move to a different rung. Foot placement responses in

SUBMITTER: Pliner EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6380680 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature